


Hero's Cuties College AU

by sgtcalhouns



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-04 01:29:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 32,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17888987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgtcalhouns/pseuds/sgtcalhouns
Summary: This started out as a two-shot based on the prompt "whoops, I accidentally slept with my TA" and then it accidentally became a whole lot more than that





	1. Chapter 1

Felix nervously sipped his beer, holding up the wall in the back of the room. He had somehow found himself at a frat party, a far cry from his usual scene. It was the beginning of the fall semester of his senior year, and he had performed well academically all three years so far–-so well, in fact, that he had been chosen as the TA for this semester’s woodshop class.

 When an acquaintance had invited him to the start-of-semester mixer, Felix figured he had earned the right to have some fun. However, now that he was here he felt more uncomfortable with each passing second. He barely recognized anyone there, it was dark and loud, and there wasn’t even a dance floor. How could they call it a party without a dance floor? 

“You’re the life of the party, aren’t you?” a sarcastic voice teased. Felix turned to find its owner and felt his knees go weak as he looked up at the face of Tamora Calhoun.

He and Tamora weren’t close–if he was being honest, he barely knew her. He spent most of his time in the woodworking shop, while her classes were in the engineering building across campus. They had been in the same orientation group their freshman year and Felix had had a crush on her ever since. Although their paths rarely crossed, they always made friendly small talk when they saw each other in the cafeteria or on the campus green. Now, here she was, standing right in front of him at a frat party of all places.

“I don’t normally frequent these kinds of things,” he admitted. “I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I gotta say, I’m a little…”

“Disappointed,” she remarked, finishing his thought.

“Yes, exactly!” he said, a little too excitedly. “This just doesn’t feel like much of a party to me. There’s not even a dance floor!”

She laughed, and Felix’s heart began to melt. Before she could respond, a new song started playing and Felix couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I love this song! Care to dance with me?” he asked, surprised by his own boldness.

“Weren’t you just complaining about the lack of a dance floor at this party?” she questioned him with a smirk.

“Well, yes, but we’ve got plenty of room right here! What do you say?” he asked, extending his hand. 

Maybe it was her boredom from the party, or the beer she had already finished, or maybe it was the goofy smile that adorned his features that had her reaching for his hand and agreeing to dance. As he spun her around in the corner of the dimly lit room, she found that she was actually enjoying herself. What could she say? The guy was a pretty good dancer. Suddenly, she caught some of the lyrics and looked at Felix questioningly as Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” continued playing.

“Are you trying to tell me something with your choice of song?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

Felix paled as realization overcame him. He released her hands, waving his arms defensively.

“No, no, I-I promise I didn’t mean it like that!” he explained, scrambling to save the good time they had been having. “It just has a nice beat, it’s perfect for dancing and it reminds me of something by Kool and the Gang.”

“Seriously?” she asked, more amused than annoyed now.

“Well, yeah, I-I really like that style of music,” he admitted sheepishly. “It’s always got a nice beat, and it’s just so happy sounding! A-and this song, it just sorta reminds me of that. I swear I wasn’t trying to send some kind of lewd message.”

Tamora couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her features as he spoke. He was so adorably innocent that she almost wanted to laugh, but she held back, not wanting to offend him. 

“I’ll let it slide this time, but only because you’re pretty cute when you’re embarrassed,” she replied. Felix could feel his cheeks heating up at her reply and tried not to swoon at the thought that she found him cute. Before he could muster a response, they were interrupted by a drunken party goer who crashed right into Felix. He flinched instinctively, stepping away from the intoxicated man, who immediately fell to the floor. 

“Hey, watch it!” Tamora interjected. “If you’re too drunk to walk straight then maybe you shouldn’t be here.”

“M’not  _that_  drunk. I…” his slurred defense was cut off by a deep belch. Felix grabbed Tamora’s hand and pulled her back just in time to avoid the spray of vomit that escaped the drunk’s mouth.

The pair stood in shock for a moment, in total awe of the scene that had just unfolded in front of them. Felix pretended not to notice that he was still holding Tamora’s hand.

“Well, that about does it for me,” Tamora said. “I’m getting out of here before someone with better aim gets sick. And thanks, for uh…”

She glanced down at their still-connected hands. Felix quickly released her hand, awkwardly shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Hey, anytime,” he chuckled. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I went around letting pretty girls get vomited on?”

He immediately kicked himself for the compliment. What was he thinking? Now she was going to think he  _was_  trying to be suggestive before. She didn’t seem taken back by it, however, giving him a small smile before turning to go.

“Wait,” Felix said. “I-It’s late. Let me walk you back to your dorm.”

Wordlessly, she tossed her head, gesturing for him to follow her. The notion that she needed to be walked across campus was amusing to her–she was definitely tough enough to hold her own–but it was sweet that Felix wanted to protect her. 

They talked a bit more as they walked, Felix asking a million questions about her major. It amazed him how casually she could discuss such complicated scientific terms. If he was telling the truth, he could listen to her talk like that all night. 

Much sooner than Felix liked, they arrived at Tamora’s building. He tried his best to strike up an interesting conversation on the elevator–anything to prolong their time together. He had never spent so much time with her, and he didn’t want to waste a single second. Felix sighed as they inevitably reached her door.

“Thanks for walking me back,” Tamora said. “I think I can handle it from here.”

“Of course,” Felix responded, thinking desperately for any way to keep the conversation going. “And thank you for the dance. I had a nice time tonight.”

“Even though we almost got covered in a stranger’s vomit?” she joked, one eyebrow raised.

“Well, it made the night much more interesting, that’s for sure,” he chuckled. “This was definitely a night I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

He leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before he could talk himself out of it. Looking back up at her, her expression was difficult to read, and Felix began to worry that he had offended her. He began stammering out an apology, but was swiftly cut off as Tamora grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him. She was so strong that he was fairly certain she had lifted him off the ground. That, or he had lost all the feeling in his legs. Either explanation seemed plausible as her kiss sent a shiver up his spine.

She finally pulled back, releasing her hold on his shirt which caused Felix to stumble for a moment before regaining his balance. Both of his ears and everything in-between were bright red, and his half-lidded eyes gazed up at her adoringly. Tamora smirked, thoroughly pleased with the effect she had had on him. 

“Why don’t you come inside?” she asked, her voice low and quiet. “There’s more where that came from.”

As she opened the door and pulled him inside, she couldn’t help but chuckle. It looked like he was going to get lucky tonight after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Felix began his trek across campus for his first class of the semester, the events of the past weekend replaying in his mind. The events themselves were a bit of a blur, but there was one detail that remained crystal clear: Tamora.

After walking her back to her dorm, Felix had somehow found himself inside her room, her hands entangled in his hair as they kissed. Felix blushed as he recalled Tamora pushing him down on her bed, an almost predatory expression crossing her face as she crawled on top of him. When registering for housing, she had opted to pay extra for a dorm room to herself, and they were both relieved to know they wouldn’t be interrupted. 

Felix was surprised at himself for letting his desire have so much control over his actions–-he had never been in such an intimate situation with someone he wasn’t seriously dating. But, as much as it embarrassed him to admit it, he had dreamt of this moment many times over the last three years, and even as it occurred he still felt as though it might all be a dream. 

As Felix neared the building that housed his class, he remembered the absolute ecstasy he felt as she brought him to the peak of his pleasure, remembered her exquisite moans as she came crashing down right after him. The memory of her breathless voice moaning his name still sent a jolt of electricity through his system.

Felix tried his best to shake these thoughts from his head as he approached his classroom. He certainly didn’t want to walk into his first class of the semester feeling distracted, especially since he was going to be the teaching assistant for this class. Now more than ever it seemed important to make a good impression.

Felix entered the room, quickly greeting the professor before taking a seat in the front row. He was so preoccupied with organizing his materials on his desk that he paid no attention to the students who were slowly filing in. Soon enough, the professor stood before the class, introducing himself and the subject matter that would be covered throughout the semester. 

“Now I’d like to take a moment to let our teaching assistant introduce himself,” the professor announced, gesturing for Felix to stand up before the class.

Felix stood from his desk, moving out into the aisle before turning around to face the students. He recognized one or two younger students from previous classes as he scanned the room, but he nearly choked as he made eye contact with the blonde sitting in the back corner.  _Was that… Tamora?_ Felix fought to regain his composure, trying to ignore the intense blush that had overtaken his features.

“H-hello, I’m Felix,” he began awkwardly. He glanced over at his professor, who gestured for him to continue. “I’m uh, I’m a senior and a carpentry major, and I’m real excited to work with all of you this semester.”

He rushed back to his seat where he promptly buried his face in his hands. Not only was he the teaching assistant for the girl he had slept with over the weekend, he had just embarrassed himself in front of the rest of the class and his professor. So much for making a good impression.

After class, Felix packed up his things and got out of the room as quickly as possible–-the last thing he wanted to do was speak to the professor after making such a fool of himself. As he sped down the hallway, something pulled on his backpack, sending him flying backward. He felt his back hit someone else’s front, and turned to find that Tamora was the person with whom he had just collided. 

“Hey,” she began. “You got out of there so fast I almost couldn’t catch up.”

“Oh, sorry,” he responded. “After makin’ myself look like such a dummy in there I didn’t wanna stick around.”

“Half the class wasn’t paying attention anyway,” she said, trying her best to comfort him. “Besides, I thought it was pretty cute how flustered you got.”

“Well, I was pretty surprised to see you in there,” he replied, trying and failing to keep his cheeks from staining pink at her compliment. “You didn’t tell me you were takin’ a woodworking class this semester.”

“I needed one more elective and this was the only one that didn’t conflict with my schedule,” she explained. “I didn’t really think much of it until I saw you in class.”

An awkward silence hung over them as they both avoided the elephant in the room. Felix felt his hair stand on end as he noticed the still-fading purple mark on her collarbone and reflected on the moment he had left it there. 

“So, you’re the TA,” Tamora said, cutting off his thoughts.

“Yep.”

“And, let me guess, there’s probably a rule against sleeping with students.”

“That’d be correct.”

“Well, damn,” she cursed. “There go my weekend plans.”


	3. Chapter 3

Felix sighed, drumming his fingers on his desk out of boredom. He was sitting in the office that had been designated as his to use for office hours. Since it was so early in the semester, no one really needed his help, but his professor, Dr. Persi, had insisted that he be present anyway just in case. So now, he sat, watching the clock and willing the time to pass by. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door, taking him by complete surprise. He hadn’t expected anyone to visit his office hours until at least the second week of school.

“Come in,” he said.

The door opened, a familiar blonde fringe poking around the corner.

“Tamora,” Felix said, taken by surprise once more. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’ve never taken one of these classes before,” she said, fully entering the room. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind giving me an overview of what to expect.”

“Of course! Here, have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the desk. “The good thing is that this is a beginner’s class, so you don’t need to have any previous woodshop experience to do well. Dr. Persi is good at explaining everything, and I’m always here if you need help.”

He felt his cheeks heating up as he caught himself beginning to ramble. Turning to the computer, he pulled up the syllabus to show her. He attempted to turn the screen toward her so she could read along with him, only to find that the ancient desktop’s monitor would not budge. 

“Why don’t you pull your chair around to this side so you can see the screen?” he suggested.

She complied, bringing her chair next to his and leaning forward in order to read the words on the screen. Felix began to sweat, his temperature rising as a result of their close proximity. As much as he tried, he couldn’t stop the memories of the night they spent together from flooding in, causing his pulse to race.

“So you can see here that the first few assignments are just readings, it’ll be a couple weeks before you have to make anything,” he explained, trying to ignore the blush he could feel spreading across his cheeks. “There’s lots of practice in the classroom before you’ll be graded on it.”

“Felix, stop, I… I have to be honest with you,” she said. “This isn’t why I came here today.”

“Then… Why did you?” he asked nervously.

Felix turned toward her and was surprised at how close they were to each other, his nose nearly brushing against hers. He gulped.

“It seems like you already know the answer to that question,” she said, her voice low.

The door opened, and they tore away from each other, looking up to see who was entering the room.

“Dr. Persi,” Felix said, attempting to appear calm and collected.

“Hello, Felix. Tamora,” he greeted them with a nod. “I brought copies of the first few readings so you can keep up with the assignments the class will be doing.”

“Thank you,” Felix said, reaching out to take the papers from him.

“I must say, I’m surprised to see you here, Tamora,” Dr. Persi said.

“Well, this is an elective for her, so she wanted to know what to expect from this class,” Felix explained. “I was just pulling up the syllabus to talk through some of the assignments with her.”

“Very good,” the professor said with a smile. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see you both in class.”

They each exhaled a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut behind him. Felix turned to say something, only to be cut off by the door opening once more.

“Oh, and before I forget, I’d like you to bring in some of your old projects if you have them,” Dr. Persi said, addressing Felix. “It’ll be helpful to have some examples to use in class.”

“Of course,” Felix answered.

The professor nodded and left once more. The pair remained frozen for several seconds before coming to the conclusion that he had left for good this time.

“So you were saying–” Felix began, only to be cut off by Tamora’s lips crashing into his.

The sensation was so overwhelming, her lips so perfectly soft, that for a moment he forgot all about where they were and the situation they were in. He reached out, burying his fingers in her soft hair. She slid her tongue into his mouth and he let out a breathy moan in response. As her fingers began unbuttoning his shirt, reality came crashing down on him and he pulled away from her.

“We can’t do this,” he panted.

“But you want to,” she replied.

“It doesn’t matter how much I might want to,” he said. “We could both get in a lot of trouble.”

“How could they possibly punish two students for having sex?” she said. “We’re both adults.”

“It’s not about the fact that we’re both students, it’s that I’m the teaching assistant. Some professors don’t care that much, but Dr. Persi doesn’t want his TAs having any kind of serious personal relationships with the students in class,” Felix explained. “Dr. Persi is nice but he’s also strict. If he found out, he’d make sure neither of us gets credit for this class. We’re supposed to graduate next semester, we can’t risk that.”

“I could drop the class,” Tamora offered. “It’s just an elective.”

“You can’t, we already missed the deadline to drop classes. At this point it would hurt your GPA,” Felix said. “Besides, you said this was the only class that didn’t conflict with your schedule.”

“Well, that may not have been entirely true,” she said, averting eye contact.

“What?” Felix asked.

“I may have signed up for this class hoping to run into you more often,” she said, attempting to remain aloof, although her cheeks were tainted a light pink. “Obviously I didn’t know you were the TA for this class or I wouldn’t have done that.”

Felix couldn’t help the goofy smile that adorned his face as she spoke. He had had a crush on her for so long, and he couldn’t believe she felt the same way.

“Tamora, I… I’ve liked you for a long time. Since we met at orientation. I was always too nervous to do something about it, and then I saw you at that party, and you kissed me, and…” he paused, clearing his throat in an attempt to avoid describing the night they had spent together. “When I left your dorm room that morning I had every intention of asking you out the next time I saw you. And now you’re in my class, which means that I can’t do that.”

The brief happiness he had felt at her confession melted away as he remembered their situation. He had finally worked up the nerve to confess his feelings to her, and it didn’t matter. They couldn’t be together.

“So what do we do now?” Tamora asked. 

“We could put this on hold until the end of the semester,” Felix said. “Then we’d be free to do whatever we want.”

“But that’s not what you want,” Tamora said.

“No, it’s not,” he said glumly. 

She leaned across the distance between them, cupping his cheeks in her hands as she brought him close for a slow, sensual kiss. He didn’t even try to pull away, one of his hands caressing her cheek while the other loosely gripped her wrist. She pulled away, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

“We’ll only get in trouble if Dr. Persi finds out, right?” she asked. 

Felix nodded slowly, still awestruck from the kiss. Tamora rose from her seat, rounding the desk to lock the office door. She came back around, settling herself on Felix’s lap rather than her own chair. He was still too dazed to register what was happening as she straddled him, pulling him close for a steamy kiss. Her next words were murmured against his lips:

“Well, I don’t plan on telling him.”


	4. Chapter 4

Felix trudged inside his apartment, dropping his backpack by the door before slinking into a chair at the kitchen table. Ralph emerged from his bedroom to see Felix burying his head in his hands.

“Hey man, long time, no see,” he commented, taking a seat across from Felix. “I haven’t seen you since you left for that party Saturday night. Don’t tell me mister goody two-shoes finally let loose and went home with somebody.”

Ralph chuckled, knowing how unlikely it was that Felix would ever do such a thing. Felix dropped his hands on the table, his cheeks darkening as he avoided eye contact with Ralph.

“No way! You did!” Ralph exclaimed. “Spill it, who’s the lucky lady?”

“Ralph, I don’t wanna talk about—“

“Come on Felix, you finally go and do something interesting, you can’t hold out on me now!” he joked.

“I don’t want to air her business out like that,” Felix said exasperatedly. “Maybe she doesn’t want anyone to know.”

“Well, anyway, I’m just glad you got that out of your system,” said Ralph. “It’s good to see you finally moving on from your crush on Tamora.”

As much as he tried, Felix could not stop his face from turning scarlet at the mention of Tamora. Ralph immediately noticed, his mouth hanging open.

“ _Well_ …” Felix trailed off

“Wait a second…” Ralph said, noting his friend’s sudden awkwardness. “Did you—?“

“Ralph, please, I—”

“You sly dog, you and Tamora? That’s great!” Ralph said, reaching across to jostle Felix by the shoulder.

“Ralph, listen, it’s complicated,” Felix said. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“Only if you tell me how you managed that,” Ralph said, smiling.

Felix eyed his best friend and roommate for a moment, concluding that he wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon.

“Fine,” Felix sighed. “She was at the party on Saturday. We talked for a minute and I asked her to dance.”

“You seriously asked her to dance with you at a house party?” Ralph teased.

“Laugh all you want, but she said yes,” Felix replied, a hint of pride in his voice. “Afterward this drunk guy bumped into me. I realized he was about to be sick and I pulled her away from him just in time.”

“What a hero,” Ralph deadpanned.

“She decided to leave after that, and I walked her back to her dorm. I was about to go and she reeled me in for a doozy of a kiss, and then she pulled me inside, and well, um…” Felix trailed off, his cheeks noticeably red. “That’s about as much as I’d like to say.”

“I can’t believe you really pulled it off,” Ralph said. “So what now, are you guys going out soon?”

“Well, it’s a little complicated…” Felix said.

“What do you mean?” Ralph asked.

“Well, as it turns out, she’s in my class,” Felix said.

“So?” asked Ralph.

“No, not a regular class, I mean the beginner’s woodshop class with Dr. Persi,” he explained. “I’m the teaching assistant of that class.”

“Oh…” Ralph said as he put the pieces together in his mind. He knew just as well as Felix did that Dr. Persi would not approve of such a relationship between his TA and a student. “So I guess it’s over before it even begins, huh?”

“…That’s where things get a little messy,” Felix admitted.

“Don’t tell me you’re still seeing her,” Ralph said.

“I didn’t mean to! I told her that it wasn’t allowed, and she understood, or I thought she did,” he said. “But then she came to my office hours today, and we started talking about the class but then before I knew what was going on she was kissing me and—“

“Did you have sex in that office?” Ralph asked incredulously.

“What? No!” Felix answered. “We were just kissing, that’s all.”

“Then what’s this?” Ralph asked, pointing to a mark on his neck that had previously been hidden by his shirt collar.

“Alright, so things got pretty heated,” Felix said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, “but I would never do something like that in a public place, you know that.”

“I know,” Ralph conceded, relieved that at least a little bit of the Felix he knew was still there. “But have you thought this through? What if Dr. Persi finds out?”

“I don’t know, Ralph. I know it’s wrong, but the way I feel when I’m with her is so  _right_ , I…” Felix paused, his tone becoming more serious. “You know how long I’ve liked her. This is more to me than just some fling, I want to be with her.”

“Does she feel the same way?”

“I don’t know,” Felix answered. “We haven’t really talked that much about what this is.”

“You should probably have that conversation before you get too involved, right?” Ralph said. “I mean, do you really wanna risk not graduating on time for something that isn’t serious?”

“No,” Felix answered sadly. “I’m just… I’ve spent three years crushing on her and I finally worked up the nerve to tell her how I feel. I don’t know what I’ll do if this is just some fun, casual thing for her.”

“Well, wouldn’t you rather know now than end up getting hurt even worse down the road?” Ralph asked.

“I guess,” Felix sighed. 

“Look, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I think it’s great that you finally made a move,” Ralph said. “I just think you’d be better off if you talked to her about it soon.”

“You’re right,” Felix said. “I’ll talk to her the next time I see her.”

“Good,” Ralph said, heaving a sigh of relief. A mischievous smile crossed his face as he spoke again. “Now, how about I take you out for drinks to celebrate this rebellious streak of yours?”

“Ralph, it’s Tuesday, I have class in the morning.”

“Now there’s the Felix I know.”


	5. Chapter 5

Felix stood awkwardly in the hallway outside Tamora’s dorm room, mustering up the courage to knock on her door. He had come here to ask her about her intentions for their relationship, and he was nervous as all get out. A spike of anxiety ran through him as he thought about the possibility that this was nothing more than a casual fling for her. This was nearly enough to make him turn around and leave, but he took a deep breath and knocked before his nerves could get the best of him. A few seconds later the door opened, revealing Tamora on the other side.

“Felix,” she said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

“Hi, Tamora. Can I talk to you about, uh…” his sentence changed course as a group of girls passed by him in the hallway, “a homework assignment?”

Tamora, catching on to his effort not to make their relationship known, nodded and opened the door a bit wider so he could come inside. 

“So, what I wanted to talk to you about is–”

His sentence was interrupted as Tamora leaned in and kissed him.

“You can drop the act now,” she murmured against his lips, draping her arms around his neck. “It’s just you and me.”

“I know, but I–”

Before he could finish explaining, she was kissing him again. He melted in her arms, unable to bring himself to pull away. He considered dropping the conversation altogether and saving it for another day, but he knew this had to be done.

“Tamora,” he managed in-between kisses. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” she replied, turning her attention to his neck.

“How do you feel–-I mean, um…” he exhaled a shaky breath, his thoughts a jumbled mess as a result of Tamora’s ministrations. “What… What is this for you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, finally pulling away to look at him.

“What I mean is, what do you want out of this relationship?” he asked nervously. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “If you weren’t in my class and I had asked you on a date like I planned to, would you have said yes?”

“Oh,” she said, a bit shocked by the question.

She walked over to her bed and sat down, quietly considering Felix’s query. He remained frozen in place for a moment, unsure if he should sit down next to her or give her some space. After a beat, he joined her on the bed, wringing his hands together in his lap. 

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he said after a moment of unbearable silence. “I just really like you, and I don’t know if I could keep doing this if you don’t feel the same way.”

She remained quiet, and Felix couldn’t help but fill the silence.

“It’s been fun sneaking around, kissing in the office and things like that, but I want more than that,” he admitted. “I’d love to get to know you better, like we did at the party.”

Tamora turned to look at him, but he was too caught up in his rambling to notice. A small smile quirked up the corner of her mouth as she watched him. No one she had ever been with had laid their feelings out for her like this. As nervous as she could tell this was making him, he wasn’t afraid to be honest with her about how he felt.

“Felix,” she said. He stopped short, turning to face her. She was a bit timid as she continued. “I would have said yes.”

“Really?” he asked, smiling in disbelief.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so surprised,” she teased. “I  _did_  sign up for a woodshop class specifically hoping I’d see you more often.”

“Oh, right,” he said, blushing. “Well, if I’m bein’ honest, I looked at engineering classes more than once, but even the electives sounded so confusing I knew I’d never hack it in a class like that.”

They both laughed, and he reached for her hand.

“You’re a sweet guy, Felix,” she said softly. 

“Well, you’re one dynamite gal,” he said, smiling as he leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek.

He felt her hand go stiff within his grasp and pulled away to see her eyes screwed shut in distress.

“Tamora, are you alright?” he asked.

Her eyes snapped open and she fixed him with a deadly glare. His breath caught in his throat–-what had he done wrong?

“I’m–I’m sorry,” he stammered. “Whatever I did, I’ll never do it again. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I need you to leave,” she said coldly.

“But–”

“I said get out,” came her harsh reply.

He released her hand, eyeing her with concern. After a moment of tense silence, he nodded gravely and stood, knowing there was no way she was going to have a conversation with him about this. He headed for the door, trying his best not to let her see the tears that pricked the corners of his eyes, his bottom lip quivering. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned back and opened his mouth to speak, only to decide against it. He opened the door and left, certain that he had never felt so hurt and confused.

The moment the door closed behind him, Tamora knew she had made a mistake. She shook her head, inwardly cursing herself for hurting Felix like this. Eyes brimming with tears, she hurried for the door, stepping out into the hallway to find him and apologize, but it was too late.

He was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Tamora walked into an empty classroom, having arrived extra early for her woodshop class in the hopes of catching Felix before class started to apologize for what had happened in her dorm room the day before. Unfortunately, Felix refused to meet her gaze when he entered the room, and the group of students that filed in behind him meant she wouldn’t be able to talk to him here. A wave of guilt washed over her at his hurt expression; she could tell he was trying with all his might to hide it, but even from the back of the room she could see the downward curve of his lips and his slightly glassy eyes. He was the first one out of the room when class ended, dashing her hopes of repairing the rift between them, at least for today.

The following day, she found herself outside his office door, exhaling a deep breath as she tried to convince herself to knock. Although she did want to talk through things with Felix, she was actually here for help with an assignment. She knew he was the only one who could help her, but she did feel strange coming to him for help when there was such an awkward conflict lingering between them. After taking a moment to brace herself, she knocked quickly before she could chicken out, opening the door when the voice inside called out.

“Tamora,” he choked out as she entered the room, unable to hide his wounded expression from her. 

“Look, I know things are weird between us right now, and I’m sorry to do this to you,” she explained, reaching into her bag to procure a few pieces of wood and a handful of tools, “but I really need your help with this.”

“Oh,” he replied, honestly relieved to talk to her about something besides their uncomfortable situation. “Of course I can help you, here, sit down.”

Tamora sat across from him and laid the project out on the desk. They were supposed to build a box, which sounded easy enough, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t seem to get her hands to cooperate with her. Felix was patient as he explained the steps to her, relaxing a bit as they progressed–-it was comforting to talk about something he was passionate about to relieve the tension between them. A real smile appeared on his face as he tried to help correct her hold on the tools.

“Here, like this,” he said, reaching across to gently adjust her grip. He shoved his feelings down as he placed his hands over hers, reminding himself that this was a purely academic setting. “How does that feel?”

“Better,” she said, a bit surprised at how something so simple could make it so much easier to do the work. “Thank you.”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for,” he said. “And… I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Tamora asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“I obviously did something that made you upset,” he explained. “I understand if you don’t wanna talk to me anymore, but I wanted you to know that whatever it is, I never meant to hurt you.”

His hands folded over hers as he spoke.

“What? Felix, I’m the one who should be apologizing,” Tamora said incredulously.

“Why?” he asked, just as confused as she was.

“I snapped at you and kicked you out of my dorm with no explanation,” she said as though it was obvious. “You don’t even know what happened to cause that, and that’s all my fault.”

He fell silent, considering her words.

“Look, you might already know this, but I didn’t come to college right out of high school,” she explained. “I spent some time in the marines first.”

“Were you on a base somewhere, or…?”

“Active duty for two years,” she answered. She felt his grip tighten around her hands.

“Oh, Tamora, I had no idea,” he said. 

“Do you remember what you called me that night?” she asked.

He thought for a moment, replaying their conversation in his mind. As soon as he realized what she was referring to he was overcome with guilt. Before he could open his mouth to apologize, she interrupted him.

“Don’t apologize, Felix. You didn’t know,” she said. She averted her eyes before continuing. “But you’re not the first person who’s called me that.”

She paused for a moment, her eyes screwed shut as painful memories flooded her system. Once it had passed, she looked as though she was still trying to force out the rest of an explanation, and Felix would have none of it.

“Tamora, look at me,” he said softly but sternly. She complied. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, but I can tell it’s hard for you to talk about. Please don’t feel like you have to tell me everything right now.”

“But I want you to be able to understand why I reacted the way I did,” she said.

“I may not understand it perfectly, but I understand enough. Please don’t torture yourself like this for my sake. You can wait until you’re ready to talk about it,” he said gently, a small smile forming on his lips. “All I need to know right now is that I have to find a new nickname for you.”

“You’re sure you’re willing to wait?” she asked skeptically. “It might be a long time before I’m ready to explain it all.”

“I waited three years to even have a real conversation with you,” he chuckled. “I’m a pretty patient guy.”

“So… Do you still want to do this?” she asked, looking down at their still-connected hands.

“If you’ll still have me,” he answered, smiling.

In lieu of an answer, she leaned forward over the desk, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss. Felix smiled against her mouth, overjoyed that they had been able to work past this. Their joy was short-lived, however, as the door swung open to reveal a very displeased professor. They broke apart, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Dr. Persi. He stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips, an angry frown on his face.

“Would either of you care to explain what’s going on here?”


	7. Chapter 7

The room buzzed with a tense and awkward energy as Felix and Tamora stood before Dr. Persi’s desk, heads bowed in shame. Felix was certain his face couldn’t get any redder than it was in this moment. Aside from the obvious embarrassment, he was also burdened with a strong sense of guilt for getting Tamora into this mess in the first place. It had been selfish of him to place his own desires above Tamora’s success–he swore to himself that he would never be so reckless again.

“I just don’t understand why you would start a relationship with a student when you know the rules, Felix,” Dr. Persi said, looking on in disappointment.

“W-Well, to be fair, we didn’t exactly  _know_  we would be in this predicament when this whole thing started,” Felix explained, awkwardly fidgeting as he spoke. “I didn’t know she was in this class and she didn’t know I was the TA.”

“And what about today?” the professor asked. “You certainly knew it was against the rules then.”

“Right,” Felix replied, scrambling for an explanation that would keep them out of trouble. “That is–”

“It’s my fault,” Tamora interrupted. Felix turned his head toward her, eyes wide in shock. She ignored him and pressed on. “Felix told me it was against the rules when he saw me in class. When I came to his office hours today, he was just doing his job, helping me with our latest assignment. I kissed him. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Felix opened his mouth to protest, but Tamora shot him a threatening glare. He clamped his mouth shut, turning back toward the desk to gauge Dr. Persi’s reaction.

“I must say, I’m disappointed, Tamora,” he said. “You’ve shown great promise so far this semester, and your academic record is flawless.”

Felix felt his stomach churning as Dr. Persi spoke. She had never been in trouble like this before, and the stain on her record would be all his fault.

“Since it’s clear that this hasn’t been a pattern for you, I’ve decided to let you off with a warning this time,” the professor continued. “But if I catch even the smallest hint that this behavior has continued, there will be consequences for the both of you.”

He shot each of them a disapproving glance before waving them out of his office. The moment they were in the hallway with the door closed behind them, they each let out a sigh of relief.

“Why did you do that?” Felix asked incredulously. “You shouldn’t have taken the fall for me, I’m the one who should be getting in trouble.”

“Are you really mad at me for saving your skin?” she asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

“No, I’m not angry, I just…” he trailed off, trying to find the right words to identify his feelings. “I feel awful letting you take responsibility for my actions in there.”

“Felix, I think we’re equally at fault here,” she replied.

“But you’ve never been in trouble like this before, and it’s all my fault,” he said. “I never wanted to cause you any problems.”

“And you think I wanted that for you?” she replied. “You’re just as squeaky-clean as I am, Felix. And I know it’s just as important to you as it is to me.”

“But if it’s so important to you, why would you take the fall?” Felix asked. “You knew it would ruin your perfect record.”

“Because I care about you,” she admitted, avoiding eye contact as she did so. “And I knew you would be working a lot more closely with Dr. Persi than I will this semester, and I didn’t want him to give you a hard time.”

“Tamora…” he said, his cheeks heating up. He took a step forward, moving to reach for her hand.

“Look, let’s not get all sentimental right now, okay?” she said, gesturing to the very public space they currently occupied. “Neither of us is in any trouble right now, so there’s no use worrying about it.”

“You’re right,” Felix sighed in relief. “We’ll just have to make sure we don’t do anything else that could get us into trouble.”

He shot her a knowing look, and she nodded.

“So, I get out of class at 4:30 this afternoon if you’d like to come by and study,” he said.

Catching the hint, she smiled at him.

“Sounds like a plan.”


	8. Chapter 8

“So how do you want to do this?” Felix asked.

“Well, obviously we can’t be seen together in public,” Tamora replied. “Anything we do together will have to be here or in my dorm.”

“You don’t think we could get away with dinner or a movie somewhere if we went a little ways from campus?” he asked.

“Do you wanna risk that? If anyone from class sees us and tells Dr. Persi, we’re done for,” she said.

“You’re right,” he sighed disappointedly. “I just wish I could take you out on a real date.”

“It’s just until the end of the semester,” she reminded him with a small smile. “In a couple months we can do whatever we want.”

Felix smiled and reached across the table for her hand. They were seated at his kitchen table, finishing up the dinner he had cooked for them. 

“And then I’m gonna take you on the kind of dates you really deserve,” he said, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a kiss against her knuckles. “You’d better start preparing yourself now, because I’m taking you out every weekend.”

 “You’re so cheesy sometimes,” she replied, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. 

“Make fun of me all you want, Tamora,” he said with a cheeky smile. “I’m gonna have three months’ worth of romance to make up for, and I’ll be pulling out all the stops.”

“Alright, loverboy, I think that’s enough out of you,” she chuckled, giving him a playful shove. “Come on.”

She grabbed his arm and stood, leading him over to the couch. As they settled in next to each other, he leaned over to kiss her cheek. Tamora turned her head and captured his lips instead, holding him close for a deep kiss. When she pulled away, his cheeks were noticeably flushed.

“Is that gonna happen every time I kiss you?” she asked with an amused smirk.

“Probably,” he admitted sheepishly. “Sorry, sometimes it’s just hard for me to believe you’re really kissing me.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s cute,” she said, and his blush deepened. “How can I make you believe it, hm? Maybe I need to kiss you more often.”

She gave him a sly smile as she leaned in to kiss him again. He was more than happy to return it, although his face was a shade darker when she pulled away.

“Guess that didn’t work,” she smirked.

“I don’t know, I think maybe we should try again,” he replied, smiling coyly.

“Ooh, getting pretty saucy there, Felix,” she teased.

“You bring it out in me,” he replied.

They both laughed softly as Tamora moved in closer. Their laughter quickly dissolved into contented sighs as their lips met once more. She put her hand on his chest, gently pushing him down against the cushions until she was lying on top of him. At this, Felix felt his heartbeat quicken. They hadn’t progressed past heated kisses since their first night together, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous as it seemed they were headed back down that path. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

“Tamora, can I tell you something?” he asked. 

“What is it?” she asked. Immediately, he regretted saying anything, but he had her full attention now.

“When I spent the night with you after the party, I…” he trailed off, feeling his cheeks burning red. “I had never done that with someone I wasn’t in a serious relationship with.”

“Really?” she asked, but she didn’t seem surprised by his confession. “You didn’t feel pressured by me, did you?”

“No, I wanted to,” he confessed, finding it difficult to look into her eyes as he continued. “I… I still want to.”

“Yeah?” she said, a hint of a smile playing at her lips.

“Yeah,” he replied. 

“Good,” she said, her smile growing. “Because I do too.”

“Really?” he asked with a goofy grin on his face. “So it wasn’t… I was… You–You felt satisfied?”

“Do you think I’d go to all this trouble to spend time with you if I wasn’t satisfied?” she asked with one eyebrow raised.

“W-Well, I just wanted to make sure that you–”

He was cut off when her lips found his, effectively silencing him. This time, he finally allowed himself to relax and give in to the desire he had been fighting to keep at bay. Feeling emboldened by Tamora’s affirmation, he deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. One hand gripped her waist while the other was buried in her soft hair. He felt her smile against his mouth as he let his hand wander, sliding down her body until it landed on her thigh. Tamora’s own hand trailed down his chest, coming to rest on his belt buckle, but before she could begin to unbuckle it, they heard a door open.

They broke apart, snapping their heads in the direction of the sound. A moment later, Ralph emerged from his bedroom, yawning loudly as he stretched his back. It took him a moment to notice the pair on the couch, but a knowing smile crossed his face the instant he saw them there.

“Ralph!” Felix exclaimed.

“We were just, uh…” Tamora said, scrambling for an explanation.

“Tamora, he knows,” Felix confessed.

“What?” she asked.

“…Ralph knows about us,” he repeated, looking sick with shame.

“You told him?” she asked accusingly. “We talked about this and we agreed–”

“He didn’t tell me, I figured it out,” Ralph interrupted. “He tried to hide it, but the guy can’t lie to save his life. I saw right through those rosy cheeks.”

Based on the overly proud expression Ralph wore and the embarrassment that was clear on Felix’s face, Tamora believed that Ralph was telling the truth.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?” Felix asked. “I thought you had an evening class this semester.”

Ralph paused for a long moment as he mentally worked through his class schedule.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, chuckling when he realized his mistake. “Whoops.”

“Are you just now waking up?” Felix asked in disbelief.

“No, I went to my bio lab earlier and then I came back for a quick nap. Guess I wasn’t so quick after all,” he replied. “Anyway, I’m headed out for the night, so you won’t need to worry about anymore interruptions from me. Just try not to get any stains on the couch, okay? It was my grandma’s.”

“We were just kissing,” Felix squeaked out, looking absolutely mortified. Tamora couldn’t help but chuckle at his plight.

“Yeah, right,” Ralph joked. “I can see your hands, I know what’s going on here.”

Felix released his hold on Tamora, instead using his hands to cover his tomato-red face. Ralph headed for the door.

“You kids have fun!” he called out before leaving the pair alone once more.

“Tamora, I am so sorry–”

Before he could say more, she planted her lips on his in a heated kiss. Something about his bashfulness was incredibly endearing to her, and she couldn’t hold back her desire any longer. He was too sweet, too innocent, and she wanted him. Finally she pulled away, leaving him breathless.

“So, you told your roommate about us. Does that mean I get to tell someone too?” she asked teasingly.

“You can tell whoever you want if you kiss me like that again.”


	9. Chapter 9

Felix walked out of the office with a spring in his step, already thinking ahead to the time he would get to spend with Tamora later. He whistled an upbeat tune as he locked the door and turned to go. He immediately yelped as he collided with another person who was standing so close behind him that he hadn’t even seen their face before walking straight into them.

“Sorry, probably should’ve said hi or something,” said the stranger.

Felix took a step back, observing his obstacle. Before him stood a man much taller than he was with an impressive build to boot. Felix recognized him as a friend of Tamora’s, he had seen them eating together in the dining hall before. 

“You scared me half to death,” Felix said, clutching his chest as he fought to regain his breath after the brief moment of adrenaline. “What were you doing standing right outside the door?”

“I wanted to introduce myself. I’m friends with Calhoun, we served in the marines together before coming back to school. You can call me Kohut,” he explained. “She told me about you guys.”

“Oh,” Felix replied. 

“I figured I should probably meet the guy who’s taking up so much of her time,” he joked, nudging Felix with his elbow. “But really, she’s told me a lot about you and you seem to be making her pretty happy.”

“Really?” Felix said, a bit of a blush rising in his cheeks. 

“Yeah, I think being with you has done her a lot of good,” Kohut said. “She’s had a pretty rough time the past couple years.”

“I know she’s been through a lot,” Felix replied. “I just want her to be happy.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kohut said with a smile. “After she lost Brad, I wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to move on, so I’m glad to see her getting back out there.”

“Brad?” Felix asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“…You don’t know about Brad?” asked Kohut.

“No, I don’t think she wants me to yet,” Felix explained, his heart sinking as he began to piece together this new information with what he already knew about her past. “I know she’s been through something terrible, but she didn’t seem ready to tell me about it and I didn’t want to pressure her.”

“Shit,” Kohut said under his breath as he realized what he had just done. “I shouldn’t have said anything, I just thought you knew already.”

“It’s alright, it was an accident,” Felix said. “But I don’t know what to do now. I’m not supposed to know about this.”

“Please, don’t say anything,” Kohut pleaded. “She’ll kill me if she finds out.”

“I don’t think I can lie to her, especially not about this,” Felix said. 

“Just act like I never told you,” Kohut said somewhat frantically. “Look, I have to go to class, but just please, don’t tell her.”

“But I–” Felix began to retort, but it was too late. Kohut had already gone, leaving Felix alone to contemplate his dilemma. 

* * *

By the time he reached Tamora’s dorm room that evening, Felix had made up his mind. He had to tell her the truth and deal with the consequences. He couldn’t bear to think about what would happen if he kept this from her and she somehow found out about it later; he couldn’t betray her trust that way. Despite his resolve, his anxiety still spiked when she opened the door and invited him inside.

“Tamora, can I talk to you about something?” he began nervously.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I… Well, I met your friend Kohut today,” he said.

“Oh, I hope you’re not mad at me for telling him about us,” she said, teasing him as she continued. “You  _did_  say I could tell whoever I wanted.”

“No, that’s not what I want to tell you,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. “He told me something I don’t think you want me to know about… Something about your past.”

“What?” she asked so quietly he could barely hear her. Already he could see the fear in her eyes, and he felt undeniably guilty for causing it.

“Please don’t be angry with him, he didn’t mean to,” he said. “He thought I already knew, and he stopped talking about it as soon as he realized I didn’t.”

“What exactly did he tell you?” she asked, slowly moving to sit on her bed. Felix cautiously joined her.

“He said you lost someone,” he explained, bracing himself for her reaction. “Someone named Brad.”

Tamora winced at the name, and Felix was about ready to burst into tears at the wounded expression on her face. He tentatively reached out to put his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t resist, and he heaved a sigh of relief when she leaned into his embrace, resting her head on his chest. They stayed that way for a while, Felix being too afraid to say something else that might upset her and Tamora drowning in painful memories. After several minutes of silence, Felix finally spoke up. 

“Tamora, this doesn’t change anything. You don’t have to tell me anything else if you’re not ready,” he said softly. “I still care about you more than anything, and I just want to be there for you.”

She nodded, sitting up to look at him. 

“Thank you,” she replied quietly. 

“Of course,” he replied earnestly. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

Suddenly, her lips were on his in a frenzied kiss. Felix was so bewildered by the sudden change in atmosphere that he didn’t return the affection. He pulled away from her, looking at her questioningly.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes searching hers for answers.

“I just want to be close to you right now,” she answered.

Before Felix could respond, she was kissing him again. They had kissed many times, but he had never felt this sort of desperation from her as she pulled his shirt out of his pants and began working his belt free. He almost let himself give in to her desire, but he couldn’t forget the vulnerable state she was in. He gently pushed her back by the shoulders.

“Tamora, I don’t think you’re in the right mindset to be doing this right now,” he said.

“I’m fine,” she growled, clearly annoyed by the implication that she couldn’t make her own decisions.

“No, you’re not,” he replied. “I know you’re upset, and I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I can help you some other way.”

“Just save it, okay?” she said. “I know what I want. Are you going to give it to me or not?”

“No,” he answered, surprising even himself with his assertiveness. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“You just said you would do anything for me,” she said. “Why won’t you do this for me right now?”

“Because I can see how upset you are and I don’t want you to do something you might regret later,” he answered, his concern clear in his voice. “I don’t feel right about doing something like that with you at a time like this.”

“Then just go, and leave me alone,” she said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him.

“Is that really what you want?” he asked. When she didn’t answer, he continued. “If it would really make you feel better for me to leave, then I will. But I’m worried about you, and I  _want_ to stay. I want to be here for you tonight. So just tell me. Do you want me to go?”

There was a long, horrible moment of silence, and Felix resigned himself to the fact that she didn’t want him here tonight. The pain he felt in his heart was so intense it was nearly physical–-he felt doubly heartbroken, due to the emotional toll he knew she was feeling and her decision to push him away. He began to stand up, but was stopped when she reached out for his arm.

“Don’t go.”

Felix knew her well enough to know how difficult it was for her to ask that of him; it made her feel vulnerable and weak to ask for help, but he was more than happy to stay and support her. He kicked off his shoes and settled them back against her pillows. They remained that way, unmoving, except for the occasional kiss he bestowed upon the top of her head. 

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked after a while. He felt her nod against his chest.

“Thank you,” she said, tilting her head up to look at him. 

“Thank  _you_  for letting me stay,” he replied. “Now, let’s try to get some sleep, it’s getting late.”

Felix pulled the sheet over them and wrapped his arms around her. It was impossible, he knew, but he wished he could shield her from the pain she was going through. Right now, all he could do was hold her close and hope it was enough to soothe her. As she drifted off to sleep, he whispered one final sendoff.

“I will always be here for you. Always.”


	10. Chapter 10

Felix woke feeling cold. As he came to his senses, he seemed to recall that there had been a significant source of heat nearby when he fell asleep which was now missing. He reached down to pull the blanket back over himself, only to find that it was already there. So then what had been keeping him so warm before, and where was it now? The sound of someone sniffling broke through his sleepy confusion. Felix snapped his eyes open as he realized that he was not in his bedroom and he was not alone. The absence of another person in bed could only mean one thing. 

“Tamora,” he rasped, sitting up to look around the room. 

Felix scrambled out of bed, panicking a bit when he didn’t see her anywhere. These dorm rooms were fairly small, box-like spaces, so there were no real hidden corners for her to disappear in. He listened more closely, placing the next sniffle inside the bathroom. Pushing the door open, he found her sitting with her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees and her face buried in the crook of her elbow. She whimpered and the sound pierced straight through his heart.

“What happened?” he asked as he knelt next to her. “Are you alright?”

She didn’t answer, but Felix saw her body tense up as he spoke. He had a feeling he knew what she was upset about, but he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, or if he even should. Hesitantly, he reached out and placed his hand on her back.

“Tamora, I know you might still not want to talk about it, but I want you to know that you can,” he said softly. “It’s not easy to talk about the bad things that have happened to us, but I’m always here to listen when you need it.”

“You don’t understand,” she said quietly, the sound muffled due to the fact that she hadn’t uncurled herself from her defensive position.

“You’re right, I don’t,” said Felix. “But I want to.”

Tamora slowly lifted her head, just enough so that she could meet his gaze. Her eyes were puffy and red, and Felix wanted more than anything to be the source of comfort and support he could tell she needed. She looked so sad, so scared and ashamed, and it broke his heart. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her hair.

“I know we haven’t  _really_  known each other for very long, and I know you’re scared to tell me about whatever happened,” he said, “but I care about you. Whatever it is, I’m not going to judge you or run out on you. I just want to make you happy.”

Tamora looked at him and tried to fight the voice in her head that told her he was lying, that he didn’t care, that it would scare him away. She wanted to believe him. Everything he had said and done leading up to this moment would be enough for any reasonable person to trust him, to confide in him. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she decided to fight her every instinct and entrust him with her most painful memories.

“So, you already know a little bit. Maybe you already connected the dots, maybe not,” she said, fully raising her head. “Brad and I met in basic training. We hit it off right away, and it wasn’t long before we fell for each other.”

Felix shifted off his knees to sit next to her, listening intently.

“We were together for a year when he proposed. There was no ring, no way to get one out there, but we were so crazy about each other that it didn’t matter,” she continued. “It all felt perfect. Too perfect.”

She paused for a moment, clearly grieved by the topic of discussion. Felix reached out, placing his hand over hers reassuringly.

“We weren’t even on the battlefield when it happened. We were outside at the camp, goofing off, when a few soldiers from enemy forces invaded. We were so wrapped up in each other that we didn’t even notice,” she said, her eyes welling with tears. “He was shot by their sniper before I ever even knew they were there. I was standing right next to him. It could’ve been me.”

It  _should_  have been me, she thought.

Felix felt his heart sink as she spoke. He’d had an inkling that Brad might have been a romantic presence in her life, but it pained him to know for certain that she had been in love before, only to lose it in such a tragic way.

“Oh, Tamora,” he breathed, a few tears in his own eyes. 

“They offered to let me come home with an honorable discharge, but I said no,” she explained. “I didn’t think I deserved it. I did my time and fought another year before going back to school. Aside from my squadron and the shrink they forced me to talk to when it happened, you’re the only person who knows.”

“Well, you don’t have to go through this alone anymore,” Felix said solemnly. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve taken to get to where you are now. You are, without a doubt, the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

Suddenly, Tamora couldn’t hold back her tears anymore, her shoulders shaking as she fought to suppress a sob. Felix was horrified, wracking his brain for what he could have said to upset her so much.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he stammered. “You’ve already been through so much and I’ve just gone and made it worse.”

She finally uncurled from around herself and reached out, crushing him to her in a tight hug. Despite what Felix was thinking, these weren’t tears of sadness–-they were tears of relief. For so long she had been terrified of what would happen when she opened up to him, and he was more understanding than she ever could have guessed. Felix hesitantly returned her embrace, still confused about what he had seemingly done wrong. Tamora buried her face in his shoulder and he could feel the wetness of her tears.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Felix exhaled a shuddering breath, tightening his arms around her as the guilt he had just experienced was alleviated. She wasn’t angry with him and he hadn’t made her cry; after letting him in, she felt  _better_. This was all he had wanted from the beginning–to make her happy. He had never expected that this would be the outcome of their night, but he was thrilled. It felt like a barrier had come down between them, allowing him to finally move in closer to her. They stayed that way, wrapped around each other on the floor, for a long while until Felix carefully picked her up and carried her to bed.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains when Felix began to stir. Glancing down, a soft smile claimed his lips when he noticed that he and Tamora hadn’t shifted in position since falling asleep. She still had her head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. He pressed a few sweet kisses to the top of her head.

“G’morning,” she mumbled, shifting in his arms.

“Good morning,” he replied softly. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

She shook her head and smiled, rolling onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow to look him in the eyes.

“Thank you for everything last night,” she said.

“I’m happy to do it, Tamora,” he replied, taking her free hand and bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss. “Thank you for letting me be there for you.”

Tamora wanted to roll her eyes, to playfully argue about why  _he_  felt the need to thank  _her_ , but decided against it. She had come to expect this sort of behavior from him, such overwhelming sweetness that it almost seemed too good to be true. Instead, she leaned down to kiss him. He happily responded, bringing a hand to her cheek. When she pulled away, she chuckled at his flushed cheeks.

“What are your plans today?” she asked.

“I don’t have any,” he answered with a smile. “It’s a Saturday, so no classes, and I’m off work today. So the only thing on the agenda is to stay right here as long as you’ll have me.”

“Well, what a coincidence, I didn’t plan on leaving this bed at all today,” she teased. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”

“That’s a dangerous offer, Tamora,” he smiled. “I might never leave.”

She smirked at him before moving in for another kiss, this one deeper than the last. He sighed contentedly, perfectly happy to stay like this forever.

“I fail to see how that’s a problem.”


	11. Chapter 11

Felix returned home late that evening, hoping to slip in quietly to avoid the relentless teasing he knew he would receive from Ralph when his roommate took notice of how long he had been gone. Sticking his head in the door, a quick glance around the living area seemed to indicate that the coast was clear. Heaving a sigh of relief, Felix opened the door all the way and stepped inside. The moment the door shut behind him, a light clicked on in the living room, revealing the very person he had been trying to avoid, seated in the armchair that faced the TV.

“Ralph,” Felix gulped.

“Welcome home, loverboy,” Ralph smirked.

He examined his friend, noting that he was wearing the same clothes he had left in the day before–-now noticeably wrinkled. There was also a rather sizable mark on his neck, just above another older, faded mark. He failed to suppress a chuckle.

“Looks like somebody had a nice weekend.”

Ralph waggled his eyebrows knowingly, causing Felix’s cheeks to flush a deep red. He finally stepped all the way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. 

“Oh, we did,” Felix replied, unable to hide his giddy smile as he recalled the day he and Tamora had spent together, just lying together in bed, kissing, cuddling, and–-he quickly shook himself from his train of thought before his face could get any redder. He cleared his throat. “I think we connected on a whole new level last night.”

“Spare me the details,” Ralph said, feigning disgust. 

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Felix quickly corrected his friend. “What I mean is, she’s been through some things in the past that she was scared to talk to me about. Last night, she finally opened up to me.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Ralph said. “So it’s worth the risk then?”

“Of course,” Felix answered, a bit surprised by the question.

“I don’t mean to offend you or anything, I guess I’m just worried about you,” Ralph explained. “All this rule breaking is a little out of character.”

“I know, brother,” Felix replied. “But… What if the rules are wrong? Am I really supposed to blindly follow every rule without thinking?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, I think it’s good to be critical,” Ralph said. “I’m just saying I think you should be careful. I mean, what if people start to notice when you go into her room at night and don’t come out until the next day? Or if someone asks you where the hickey came from–-man, you guys should really cool it with those, this is like the third time.”

“…I hadn’t thought of that,” Felix admitted quietly, subconsciously touching the bruised spot on his neck. “I just… Ralph, I have never felt like this before. I mean, I thought I was in love once before, but when I think about how I felt back then versus how I feel when I’m with Tamora…”

“Felix, I remember your relationship with Mary just as well as you do, we both know you were never in love with her. I think maybe you loved her like a friend, or even a sister, and you knew she had a crush on you, so you tried to trick yourself into thinking it was more,” Ralph said, “but even then, I knew you didn’t have feelings for her. You just didn’t wanna hurt her feelings.”

Felix looked up at Ralph, somewhat surprised by his friend’s ability to so quickly unravel the only serious relationship he’d ever been in. 

“I didn’t realize you were paying so much attention,” Felix said.

“I’ve known you your whole life, I can tell when you’re not happy,” Ralph replied. “And I will say, even though I’m nervous for you breaking all these rules… I’ve never seen you this happy.”

“Oh, Ralph, she makes me happier than I ever imagined,” Felix gushed. “Thinking back, it almost makes me laugh to think I was convinced that I was in love before. Of course I cared about Mary, I still do, but it was never anything like this.”

“Are you saying you’re in love with Tamora?” Ralph asked cautiously.

“Jiminy, brother, I don’t know,” Felix said. “I thought I knew what love felt like, but obviously I was wrong. I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. Maybe I am in love with her.”

“Look, I can’t claim to know what it feels like to fall in love with somebody, but I don’t think it’s a ‘maybe,’” Ralph said. “I think, when it happens, you’ll know.”

“I think you’re right,” he replied.

“Besides, it’s only been a few weeks, right?” Ralph said. “It’s probably too soon to tell. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where things are headed, especially if you guys keep dry humping each other on the couch.”

Felix’s gasp could have sucked all the air out of the room.

“Ralph, we did  _not_ –”

“I know, I know,” Ralph said, putting his hands up in surrender as he laughed at Felix’s horror. “It’s just too easy with you.”

“That is not funny,” he replied, still in shock from his friend’s choice of words.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Ralph said. A mischievous grin suddenly crossed his face as he spoke again. “But you guys did have sex out here, didn’t you?”

“Wha–I–That’s…” Felix sputtered, blushing up to his ears. “…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Tammy…”

“Oh,  _Felix_.”

The heat of their passion hung in the air, their skin slick with sweat. They paid it no mind, focused entirely on the surge of desire that was set to devour them whole. The firm grip Felix had on Tamora’s hips was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality as her body rocked against his, the sensation of her soft skin gliding over his bringing him one notch closer to his inevitable release. He set frenzied kisses everywhere he could reach–-her collarbone, her neck, the underside of her chin, even ducking his head down to pay her breasts some attention. 

Tamora picked up the pace, grinding on him at an unforgiving rate. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to last, her every movement nearly overwhelming him with pleasure. Any attempts at remaining quiet were long forgotten as they rode their desire to its peak, completely oblivious to anything else around them. The tightly wound coil within him threatened to snap at any moment when he suddenly felt Tamora clench around him, riding out her orgasm. Barely a moment later, his own finish overwhelmed him in a white-hot flash of euphoria. Neither of them could contain their sounds of satisfaction as they clung to each other, bodies writhing in ecstasy.

“ _Felix_ ,” Tamora breathed.

“Mmm, Tammy, I–” Felix moaned, pausing to release a shuddering breath. “I love you.”

A few seconds passed before his words registered in either of their minds. They froze, staring at each other in shock.

“I, um…”

Before Felix could try to come up with a reasonable explanation for the terrible timing of that confession, a loud siren blared through the room, causing them both to flinch. The noise continued, and Felix looked up to see the fire alarm near the ceiling flashing in concurrence with the sound. 

“I don’t think that’s a drill,” Felix said.

They quickly separated, scrambling around the room to retrieve the clothing items they would need to be at least somewhat decent before vacating the building. Tamora hurried out of the room ahead of him, leaving Felix to trail behind with Ralph, who had just come out of his own bedroom. They followed the crowd of students outside the building, gathering in a large group across the street. 

“Your shirt’s on inside out,” Ralph commented.

“Oh, I didn’t even notice,” Felix replied, his cheeks burning red. “I wasn’t exactly…dressed…when the alarm went off.”

“Oh, was that you?” Ralph teased. “I thought there was a cat dying outside or something.”

“Ralph, please,” Felix pleaded quietly.

“Sorry,” Ralph replied. He looked around, noticing for the first time the distance that Tamora had put between herself and Felix and the way she was avoiding eye contact with him. “What happened with you two? Did the fire alarm put an early stop to things, or…?”

“No, we, uh… We had already, well… Things had already come to a close when the alarm went off,” Felix explained awkwardly. “But I messed up real bad right afterward.”

“Messed up how?” Ralph asked.

“I, um… may have told her that I love her in the heat of the moment,” Felix murmured, his face practically glowing.

“You what?!” Ralph asked incredulously. “What did she say?”

“She didn’t say anything!” Felix answered. “She didn’t get a chance to, because the alarm started right after I said it.”

“Oh my god, Felix,” Ralph shook his head. “We talked about this!”

“I know, Ralph,” Felix said. “I didn’t mean to! It just slipped out!”

“How does something like that just slip out?!”

“I don’t know!” Felix whined, burying his face in his hands. “Everything was going so well, and now she won’t even look at me. Why’d I have to be so stupid?”

“You’re not stupid, you’re just…really enthusiastic,” Ralph conceded, trying his best to be comforting. “I’m sure everything will be fine once you guys talk it out.”

“That’s  _if_  she’s willing to talk to me about it,” Felix grumbled. “Ralph, what she’s been through… It had to make it difficult for her to hear that from me.”

“Well, you can tell her that!” Ralph suggested. “Tell her you get why it might have upset her, show her you understand where she’s coming from. I really don’t think she’s gonna break up with you over this.”

“I guess…” Felix said, gazing longingly at Tamora through the crowd.

“You probably shouldn’t be so obvious about that if you don’t want anyone to notice,” Ralph suggested. “Speaking of that, do you think anyone saw her come out of our apartment?”

“I doubt it,” Felix answered. “We’re at the end of the hall, so everyone was ahead of us leaving the building.”

“Well, how are we gonna get her back in?” Ralph asked. “Everyone’ll be behind us, someone’s bound to notice that she’s with us and our neighbors know she doesn’t live with us.”

“I don’t know,” Felix admitted. “With everything else going on, I hadn’t even thought of it.”

“Hold on, I’ve got an idea,” Ralph said before squeezing through the crowd.

Felix could do nothing but stand and watch as Ralph approached Tamora, praying he wouldn’t do anything to get him in any further trouble with her.

“Hey, Tamora,” Ralph said awkwardly, realizing for the first time that he had never really spoken to her directly. “I, uh, wanted to say thanks for helping me study for my bio exam tomorrow. I know you’re not an official tutor or anything, so I just wanted to say I appreciate the help.”

Tamora looked at him with her brow furrowed in confusion until she caught the look in his eyes as he silently begged her to go along with it.

“No problem,” she replied, playing along. 

“I know it’s getting pretty late. My car’s in the shop right now but my roommate, Felix, can give you a ride home once we can go back inside,” he said loudly enough for the people around them to hear.

“Sure,” she shrugged.

Ralph nodded, and by the time he had led her back over to where Felix stood, the residents of the building were let back inside the building. Word of the alarm’s cause quickly spread: someone’s attempt at cooking a midnight snack had not gone very well, filling the communal kitchen with smoke. As the crowd began to shuffle toward the doors, Felix hung back a few steps to walk next to Tamora.

“Tamora, I am so sor–”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she interrupted, still refusing to look at him directly. “Just take me home.”

Felix nodded sadly, saying nothing for the rest of the walk. Ralph sensed the tension between them and thought it wise to stay a few steps ahead of them to give them some space. He quickly ducked into his bedroom once they reached his and Felix’s apartment, leaving the couple alone. Tamora hurried into Felix’s room to gather her belongings and Felix followed, closing the door behind him.

“Tammy, I–”

“Felix, please, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

He paused, about to give in to her request. A moment later he regained his resolve, taking a deep breath before trying again.

“You don’t have to say anything, but please, just listen,” he said softly. “And then I promise I’ll take you back to your dorm.”

She tensed for a moment before sighing heavily and sitting down on his bed.

“Fine,” she replied.

“I’m sorry. Regardless of anything else, that was not a good time to say what I did for the first time,” he said, cautiously moving to sit next to her. “I just… Look, I’ve had a girlfriend before, but I didn’t feel nearly as strongly about her as I feel about you.”

Tamora looked at him, a bit surprised by this turn in the conversation.

“I know it’s not great to bring up past relationships like this, it’s just… I thought I was in love with her back then, and now I’m starting to realize that I wasn’t,” he began to ramble. “So I don’t even know what love is supposed to feel like, and it got me all confused. And I really,  _really_  like you and I’ve never liked anyone this much before and I just get so flustered around you sometimes but I try to be careful because I know what you’ve been through and I don’t want to upset you and–”

“Felix,” Tamora cut him off. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have given you the cold shoulder like that, it just scared me a little to hear you say that.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I never want to hurt you, and I know I hit a tender spot by saying that,” he replied. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about you and my old relationship, trying to sort out all my feelings. I think having all those thoughts running through my head combined with how you were making me feel in that moment, it just sort of…slipped out. But I promise I’ll be more mindful from now on, I won’t say it again. At least not anytime soon.”

“Okay,” Tamora said, giving him a hint of a smile.

“So, are we okay?” Felix asked nervously.

“Yeah,” Tamora answered, her smile growing as she reached for his hand. “We are.”

“Good,” Felix said, sighing in relief. He leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek. “Let me just grab my keys and then I can take you home.”

His attempt to stand up was halted by Tamora, who pulled him back down by the hand. 

“Actually, I think I’d like to stay if that’s alright with you,” she smiled, the lightest hint of a blush present on her cheeks. The sight of her like that made Felix’s heart flutter.

“It’s more than alright,” he smiled back. 

Felix settled back into bed with Tamora’s head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. He looked down at her face, peaceful and content, and felt a wave of relief that he hadn’t caused a major rift between them. As he reflected on everything that had happened tonight, it was somewhat shocking to him that she believed his explanation–-right now, looking down at her curled up in his arms, he wasn’t even sure if  _he_  believed it.

Tamora nuzzled into his shirt, relishing the way his arms just barely tightened around her. She would never admit it, but it was kind of nice to have someone else being protective of  _her_  for a change. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax and go to sleep, but found that to be difficult as thoughts of all that had just happened swam in her head. Deep down in the darkest depths of her heart, she knew she had lied to Felix tonight. Yes, it had scared her when he said ‘I love you.’ But if she was really honest with herself, that fear didn’t stem from his confession.

No, in truth, she was afraid because, although she refused to acknowledge it, she was beginning to feel the same way.


	13. Chapter 13

Felix woke early the next morning, idly rubbing Tamora’s back as he lost himself in thought. Despite what he had told her the night before, he was beginning to find it more and more difficult to deny that he was truly falling in love with her. He fought himself over whether he should confess his feelings to her; if he were to tell her he loved her now, she might believe it to be another bout of confusion and excitement. And he  _had_  promised her he wouldn’t say it again anytime soon. But above all else, he wanted to be honest with her. He frowned as he considered his dilemma.

“What’s got you so grumpy this early in the morning?” a sleepy voice mumbled.

He looked down to see Tamora looking back at him, having apparently woken up during his ruminations. 

“Oh, just thinkin’ about the statistics exam I’ve got this afternoon,” he replied, hoping his excuse would be enough to convince her.

“You always stress yourself out so much over these tests, but you always end up getting an A,” she smirked. She shifted off of his chest and onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow.

“You’re right,” he said. “But you know me, always the worry-wart.”

“We’ll just have to find some way to help you relax,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. 

Before he could respond, she leaned down, planting a deep kiss on his lips. He sighed blissfully, reaching up to cradle her cheek in his hand. She pulled away to find him gazing up at her adoringly, his cheeks tinted pink. 

“I can work with that,” he grinned.

Tamora rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove. In retaliation, Felix grabbed her sides and began to tickle her, relishing her laughter until she collapsed on top of him. Soon, their quiet moment of early-morning tenderness had given way to a lighthearted scuffle, their sounds of mirth filling the room as they fought for dominance. It seemed as though Felix was going to come out on top as he caught Tamora’s hands in his own, preventing her from grabbing his shoulders like she had planned. He looked up at her with a cocky grin as it seemed he had her beat, when she took him by surprise by leaning down to kiss him. The action caused him to melt beneath her, and she took the opportunity to straddle his waist, pinning his wrists down on either side of his head.

“Looks like I win.” She smiled victoriously.

“No fair,” Felix pouted. “Flag on the play for underhanded distraction.”

“Are you really complaining?” she asked, leaning down so her face was barely an inch away from his.

His eyes went wide, dazed by their sudden proximity.

“No,” he answered softly.

The moment the word left his lips she was kissing him again. She released her hold on his wrists and he immediately used his freed appendages to hold her close, one hand in the small of her back and the other tangled in her hair.

“You win,” he murmured against her lips.

Tamora smiled into the kiss and Felix let himself give in to the languid desire that was beginning to awaken within him. He tilted his head and parted his lips, allowing her tongue to sweep into his mouth, and a warm tingle spread through his body at the contact. His hand slipped under the hem of her shirt, his fingers kneading the bare skin on her back. They were both so preoccupied by their lazy morning affection that all thoughts of the date and time were long forgotten. Therefore, it took them both by surprise when the alarm on Tamora’s phone went off, ripping right through the hazy warmth that surrounded them.

“I have to get ready for class,” she sighed disappointedly.

“Alright,” Felix replied in a teasingly over-the-top disgruntled tone. “But I want a rematch later.”

They shared a tender smile before Tamora got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She turned over her shoulder to respond.

“That can be arranged.”

As Tamora began her shower, Felix sat in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal. His chin rested in his hand and he couldn’t help the soft smile on his face as he thought about her. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Ralph exiting his bedroom.

“So things worked out alright between you and Tamora, I take it?” Ralph asked.

“Oh,” Felix said, startled by his friend’s presence. “Things are more than alright between us, Ralph.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, I can practically see the hearts in your eyes,” Ralph chuckled. “Oh, before I forget, we got the invite to the winter formal, it’s in a couple weeks.”

“I almost forgot about that,” Felix said. “I’m not sure if I really want to go this year.”

“Are you kidding?” Ralph asked. “You look forward to it every year.”

“I know, but what’s the point in going if I can’t bring the one person I’d want to be my date?” Felix asked. 

“Well, you’ve gone without a date before,” Ralph suggested. “This wouldn’t be any different.”

“But it would,” Felix explained. “When I went without a date, the dancing was all in good fun and it didn’t matter because I wasn’t really tied to anyone anyway. But I just wouldn’t feel right dancing with anyone else now that I’m with her.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you take dancing so seriously,” Ralph said. “What gives?”

“Well…” Felix said quietly. “D’you remember what we talked about last night?”

“Yes,” Ralph said cautiously, afraid he already knew where the conversation was headed.

“Well, I… I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I think…” he trailed off, nervous to say it out loud. “Ralph, I think I meant what I said to her last night.”

“What do you mean?” Ralph asked.

“I mean I…” Felix gulped. “I’m in love with her.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Ralph asked firmly.

“I’m sure, brother,” Felix answered. “The way I feel when I’m with her… There’s nothing like it. I would do anything to make her happy. She’s all I can think about most of the time and she’s the  _only_  person I want to be with.”

The pair of roommates were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice the water turning off in the bathroom as Tamora stepped out of the shower. She could just make out the muffled sounds of their conversation.

“So, did you tell her that?”

“No,” Felix admitted. “I know it scared her when I said it last night, and I promised her I wouldn’t say it again. But I don’t know how long I can keep it from her. I want her to know how I feel, but I would never forgive myself if I scared her away.”

“Well, if you’re really serious, you’re gonna have to tell her at some point.”

“I know,” Felix grumbled. “I just don’t know what to do. I can’t tell her that I love her, but I can’t keep it from her forever. And I can’t take her to the dance.”

He sighed heavily, burying his face in his hands. Ralph clapped a large hand on his back in a show of support.

“You’ll figure it out, Felix,” he said as comfortingly as was possible for him. “But as far as the dance goes, I can always bring her as my ‘date,’ and then we can go as a group. That way you can hang out together without it being suspicious.”

“Well, isn’t there someone you wanna bring as your date?” Felix asked.

“You know as well as I do that there is no romantic traction building up for me right now,” Ralph chuckled. “Besides, it’s the least I can do to make up for all those dying cat jokes.”

Felix paused for a moment, eyeing his roommate for any signs of hesitation. He found none.

“Thank you, Ralph,” he said. “It really means a lot that you’d go out of your way to help me like this.”

“S’What I’m here for, buddy,” Ralph replied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve decided to give this whole ‘going to class’ thing a try.”

“Good luck to you, brother,” Felix said with a laugh as Ralph left.

Barely a moment later, his own bedroom door opened and Tamora walked into the kitchen with her backpack in tow. She smiled at him, but he could sense a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. 

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just stressing out over this group presentation I have later today,” she said, offering a similar excuse as the one he had given her earlier. “I swear I’m the only one in my group who actually knows what’s going on in class.”

“Well, even if your group is less than prepared, I’m sure you’ll knock it out of the park, Tammy,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you,” she smiled back. “The same goes for you with that test this afternoon. I know it’s nothing you can’t handle.”

She rounded the table, leaning down to kiss him before she left. He quickly stole a second kiss as she was pulling away.

“See you tonight?” she asked.

He nodded. “Have a good day, Tammy.”

“You, too.”

Tamora grabbed her things and left, pausing as soon as the door closed behind her to catch her breath. Her heart was racing, and it was a miracle she had made it out of Felix’s apartment without him noticing the spike in her level of anxiety. After a moment of deep breathing, she left for class, contemplating how she was going to tell Felix that she had heard everything he had just said to Ralph. How could she tell him that she had accidentally eavesdropped on his conversation and overheard him declaring his love for her?

And more importantly, how was she going to admit to Felix –and herself– that deep down, she loved him, too?


	14. Chapter 14

“Hold on, I’m gonna need you to start over. What exactly is the issue here?”

Kohut sat outside Tamora’s dressing room stall as she tried on a few dresses for the upcoming formal. She had agreed to the plan of going as Ralph’s “date” even though she had never been caught dead at this sort of event before; she could tell by the nervous anticipation in Felix’s eyes when he had asked her that it would mean a lot to him if they could go together, even in a roundabout sort of way. However, her absence at formal events over her lifetime meant she didn’t own anything that would be appropriate to wear. Kohut had  _very begrudgingly_  agreed to come with her to the mall, on the condition that she spill all the details of whatever had transpired between them to suddenly cause her so much anxiety. As much as she had tried to hide it, he had known her for too long–he could tell the moment he saw her that something was bothering her.

“First, he tells me he loves me,” Tamora said from behind the door, sighing in exasperation at having to explain it all again.

“During sex,” Kohut smirked.

“Not relevant,” she shot back, grateful that he couldn’t see the pink tinge on her cheeks. “Obviously, I freak out a little, and he tells me it was an accident and that he won’t say it again.”

“What exactly does ‘freak out a little’ mean?”

“I shut down for a few minutes, gave him the cold shoulder,” she said quietly, still feeling guilty for the way she had reacted. “But he wouldn’t have any of that, and once we talked it out, everything seemed fine.”

“Okay, I’m not seeing a problem here.”

The door opened, revealing Tamora standing on the other side wearing an incredibly strappy red dress. She brought her arms around herself, obviously uncomfortable in the garment.

“That looks nice,” Kohut commented.

“It took me ten minutes to get into this thing,” she huffed, gesturing to the plethora of straps that criss-crossed on her shoulders and back. “It’ll probably take me twice as long to get out of it. This one’s a definite no.”

She disappeared behind the door again, and Kohut could hear her struggling to get out of the dress.

“You haven’t answered my question,” he said. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem,” she paused, grunting as she worked one arm out of the silky fabric, “is that the next morning, I heard him tell Ralph that he  _does_  love me.”

“Then why didn’t he just say that the night before?” Kohut asked. “Why would he lie when he talked to you about it?”

“He told Ralph that he didn’t want to scare me away,” she explained, sliding into another dress. 

“Why would that scare you away? Do you not feel the same way?”

His question met her ears just as she had opened the door again. She found herself wishing she had waited a few more seconds before revealing her face to him, knowing full well that he could see her answer before she even had to say it.

“Oh my god, you love him,” he said just a bit teasingly.

“Kohut, please.”

“So, then what happened?” Kohut asked. “Obviously something else did, because I don’t see any issue here.”

“That’s everything.”

He stared at her in confusion for several seconds.

“Wh-… How is–” he pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath in an effort to compose his thoughts. “So let me get this straight. You love him.”

Tamora sighed heavily. “…Yes.”

“And you now know that he loves you.”

“Yes.”

“So you two love each other. You know this for a fact,” he said incredulously. “How in the world is that a bad thing?”

“You know it’s not that simple.”

Their eyes met and he nodded in understanding. “I know.”

“He was understanding when I told him everything, and he’s been so considerate of my feelings this whole time,” she said, looking down at the floor, “but at some point it’s all gonna end up being too much for him, or for me. Maybe I should just end things now and save us both some hurt down the road.”

“Absolutely not.”

Tamora looked up to see him looking right back her with his jaw set, a firm expression on his face.

“Look, I know this is hard for you. I lived it, too,” he said, his expression grim. “After we lost Brad, I didn’t wanna get close to anyone. It hurt too much to lose them.”

Tamora braced herself for the wave of painful memories; while she had been engaged to Brad, Kohut had been his best friend. He took Brad’s death just as hard as she did, a fact she had to remind herself of every now and then. 

“But you know he wouldn’t want us to live like that, so closed off from the world,” he said. “He wouldn’t want you to deny yourself the happiness you feel with Felix. You know that.”

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and leaning against the doorframe.

“I just can’t help feeling like anyone who gets close to me is only going to get hurt,” she said, looking down. “I don’t ever want anything bad to happen to him.”

“You know that no matter what you do, he’s going to end up getting hurt sometimes,” he said. “It happens to all of us and there’s nothing we can do about it. But if you stay with him, then he’ll have you to fall back on during those tough times.”

Tamora hesitantly met his gaze.

“And more importantly, you’ll have him.”

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a quiet confidence that challenged her to come up with an argument that could counter his.

“I guess you’re right,” she conceded.

“Can I get that in writing?” he joked. “But in all seriousness, I’m happy for you, Sarge. He’s a good guy, and it’s obvious that he cares about you.”

“Thanks, Kohut.”

“Now get out of that dress,” he remarked. “That green is not a good color for you.”

“Didn’t realize I was dealing with a fashion critic here,” she smirked. She reached for one of the dresses hanging on the wall and tossed it at Kohut, where it landed squarely in his face. “And did you really think you were gonna get away with sneaking that one in here? You know how I feel about pink.”

“I would describe this as more of a fuchsia,” he said, laying the garment across his lap. The door slamming shut in front of him served as Tamora’s reply. He shrugged, mumbling to himself. “I thought it was a nice color.”

A moment later, the door opened again. Tamora stood before him in a cobalt blue dress, the flowy lace material reaching all the way down to the floor. It was fitted from her shoulders to her waist, at which point the light fabric draped loosely over her curves.

“Man, wait ‘til the little guy sees you in that,” Kohut smiled, choosing not to comment on the deep V of the neckline, although it amused him to imagine Felix’s reaction to it.

“It’s too much,” she said self-consciously.

“Have you looked in the mirror?” he asked. “You look incredible. Get out here.”

Reluctantly, she stepped out of the changing room, standing in front of the large, brightly-lit mirror outside. Chancing a look at herself, she was surprised to find that she actually  _liked_ this dress.

“It’s nice enough to be formal, but not too flashy,” Kohut commented. “And didn’t you say blue was his favorite color?”

She nodded sheepishly in response, and he chuckled.

“You’re in love with the guy, Sarge, it’s not embarrassing to know these things.”

“You’re sure it’s not too over-the-top?” she asked, smoothing her hands over the soft lace.

“This is the one,” he said definitively. “This is definitely your color.”

“Since when are you an expert on these things?” she teased.

“Since you dragged me to the mall and made me watch you try on dresses for two hours,” he answered.

Once Tamora had changed back into her regular clothes and they headed toward the cash register, Kohut couldn’t help but make one more comment.

“You should probably bring some smelling salts with you or something.”

“…Why?”

“Pretty sure he’s gonna pass out the second you walk out the door in that dress.” 


	15. Chapter 15

“Are you ready?” Ralph asked.

“I am, brother,” Felix replied from the driver’s seat. “I can’t wait to see her. I bet she looks wonderful.”

He emitted a lovesick sigh at the thought. The pair were currently in Felix’s truck, en route to Tamora’s dorm to pick her up for the dance.

“Eyes on the road, buddy,” Ralph chuckled. “You’ll only get to see her if we don’t crash on the way there.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I’m just so excited.”

“And you got everything set up for later?” Ralph questioned.

“You should see it, Ralph,” Felix nodded. “It’s going to be perfect.”

Their conversation halted as the truck came to a stop outside the dormitory. They exited the truck and headed inside; Felix was nearly buzzing with nervous energy. Ralph shook his head in amusement. 

Tamora was sliding into her shoes when she heard the knock at the door.

“It’s open,” she called out to them. 

Ralph opened the door and entered the room with Felix in tow. Closing the door behind him, Felix turned to face Tamora. She had just straightened her posture, having successfully worked her foot into the stubborn, stiff leather of the flats she wore. The moment he laid eyes on her, his breath caught in his throat. Everything else melted away; nothing and no one existed in that moment besides Tamora. He slowly crossed the room to stand before her, walking as though he was in a trance. He took her hands in his.

“Tamora, you…” he said softly, afraid to speak any louder lest he break the spell. “You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she whispered back.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. He could tell that she was wearing more makeup than usual and didn’t want to ruin her effort, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to contain himself if she said no.

Thankfully, she answered by leaning down and connecting their mouths in an ardent kiss. He gripped her hands just a bit more tightly, needing something in the physical realm to latch onto to prevent himself from completely disappearing into the dream he was certain he was currently living in. On the other side of the room, Ralph awkwardly rocked back and forth on his feet, staring at the ceiling in an effort to give them some privacy. Such a feat was nearly impossible in such a small space, but it was the thought that counted, he figured. Once a sufficiently uncomfortable amount of time had passed, he cleared his throat, reminding the couple of the third party in the room.

“We should probably get going,” Ralph said.

“Oh, right,” Felix said sheepishly, his cheeks burning red.

Before Ralph opened the door, Felix snuck in one last romantic gesture by bringing her hand to his lips, closing his eyes as he laid a reverent kiss across her knuckles. Tamora tried to ignore the warmth in her cheeks as he looked up at her with pure adoration shining in his eyes.

“Better get it all out of your system now, I’m about to open this door,” Ralph teased.

Both Felix and Tamora chuckled, slightly embarrassed by the brazen display of affection Ralph had just witnessed. But he seemed more amused by it than anything else, which helped to ease some of the discomfort.

They made their way out to Felix’s truck, Ralph insisting on taking the backseat so Tamora could sit up front. He barely fit in the tight space, but it made him smile to see how happy Felix looked to sit beside her. As he drove them out of the parking lot, Felix reached over to intertwine his fingers with Tamora’s on her seat. 

Too soon for Felix’s liking, they arrived at the venue and he reluctantly let go of Tamora’s hand. As glad as he was to be here with her, it pained him that he couldn’t walk into the room with her arm in his. Ralph gave him an apologetic pat on the back as they exited the truck. Felix smiled back at him, knowing that what he had planned for later that night would more than make up for the fact that he couldn’t show her off right now. Tamora eyed them questioningly, unable to shake the feeling that something was going on that she hadn’t been let in on.

“What’s up with you two?” she asked.

“Nothing, why?” Felix replied.

“I don’t know, it seems like you’ve got something up your sleeve.”

Felix gulped and hoped that, by some miracle, she wouldn’t see straight through him as he struggled to keep the surprise hidden.

“Oh, no, I’m just excited to be here is all.”

Tamora accepted his answer, although she still regarded him with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Before she could press the issue any further, they stepped inside. Tamora had only been in this building once before, when it had been used to host a banquet for the academic society she had been a part of. It looked much different this time, the tables and chairs pushed to the edges of the room, leaving enough space for a large dance floor right in the center. 

It wasn’t long after they entered the room that Felix was swept away by a large group of friends. He tried to resist their pull, insisting that he stay with Tamora and Ralph, but he was no match for their sheer numbers. Ralph tried to signal to him that they would be alright on their own for a few minutes when he shot a desperate look over his shoulder at them. Before they knew it, he had disappeared into the crowd, leaving Ralph alone with Tamora. They stood awkwardly for a long moment, unsure how to hold a conversation without Felix present. Just as Ralph opened his mouth to speak, another student beat him to the punch.

“Hey, Ralph, isn’t this the girl who was tutoring you in biology?” the girl asked.

“Yep,” Tamora nodded.

“And now you’re his…date?” she asked.

“Yeah, we really bonded over uh…” Ralph trailed off, wracking his brain for  _any_  relevant topic, “…cellular respiration.”

“…Cellular respiration?” the girl asked, her confusion and amusement clear.

“Yeah, you know, uh, the plants put out oxygen, and then uh…” he struggled to remember the concept, “they take in the…nitrogen…I’m pretty sure…”

Tamora resisted the urge to bury her face in her palm.

“It’s basically a cycle, you know, like the circle of life,” Ralph said proudly.

“Sure…” the girl replied. “Well, I’m gonna go. You two have fun.”

“See ya, Nell!” Ralph called out to her as she scurried away. He glanced over at Tamora, who was giving him a very disappointed glare.

“You realize that absolutely none of that was correct, right?”

“Wait, really?” he asked. “Not even the circle of life thing?”

Before Tamora could launch into a thorough explanation of cellular respiration, Felix reappeared beside her.

“I’ve got to run to my car, the yearbook committee wants to borrow my camera,” he explained. “But I’ll be right back!”

As he turned to go, Felix shot Ralph a meaningful look, and he nodded in return. 

“How about I grab us some drinks?” Ralph said abruptly.

He hurried away without awaiting a response from Tamora and returned a moment later with two plastic cups of punch. She accepted her drink with quiet thanks, but she still couldn’t shake the vague feeling of suspicion that something was going on. 

“Oh, and uh, here’s a napkin,” Ralph said, holding out a small paper cloth.

“I’m okay,” she replied.

“No, really, take it,” he insisted.

With a visibly perplexed expression, she hesitantly took the napkin from him. Unfolding it, she noticed a note written on the inside. She recognized the handwriting as Felix’s.

> _Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes_

Tamora looked back up at Ralph, who nodded toward a door in the back of the room. She placed her drink on a nearby table and headed toward the door, clutching the note in her hand. The door opened to reveal the stairway up to the roof, and she slipped inside, hoping to go unnoticed. As she reached the top of the stairs, she took a deep breath, feeling somewhat anxious to find out what awaited her on the other side of the door. Steeling herself, she pushed it open and stepped onto the roof.

“You’re two minutes early,” she heard Felix’s voice from around the corner.

She rounded the doorway to find him standing a few feet away from her, a champagne flute in each hand. A warm glow surrounded him, provided by the string lights that were wrapped around the edges of the roof. A small table stood near the wall, a plate of chocolate covered strawberries sitting on its surface.

“You know I hate to be late,” she replied. “Felix… What is this?”

“I knew we wouldn’t be able to spend any time alone together downstairs,” he said. “I figured this was a nice compromise.”

“You set all this up for me?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t get to dance with you tonight,” he said, giving her a warm smile. He held a glass out toward her. “It’s sparkling cider,” he explained.

“How did you get all this up here?” she asked, accepting the drink.

“They had a leak up here a few days ago that I helped patch up,” he said. “I came back to check on it earlier today, and snuck everything up in my toolbox. Well, except for the table. I think that’s been here since the dawn of time.”

She laughed, looking at him in disbelief.

“I can’t believe you went to all this trouble,” she said.

Felix took a step closer to her and reached for her hand.

“It’s no trouble at all, Tammy,” he said softly. “This is the kind of date you deserve. I’m only sorry I wasn’t able to do it sooner.”

“Don’t apologize,” she smiled. “This is perfect.”

He beamed up at her and leaned in to kiss her cheek. The music from downstairs drifted up to them, and Felix thought he heard a familiar beat. Grinning, he gave her a knowing look as she began to recognize the song.

“You know, we never did get to finish that dance,” he said.

Setting her drink down on the table, she took his other hand and followed him out to the middle of the roof. What started as a legitimate dance quickly turned into the two of them goofing around as Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” played. Felix spun her around so many times she thought she might fall over, but his smile was so bright that she couldn’t find it in herself to stop him. They laughed as Felix came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist, picking her up and spinning them around. As the song drew to a close, they paused to catch their breath.

“See what you missed out on?” he chuckled.

Tamora rolled her eyes, smiling down at him. 

“If you had pulled something like that at the mixer, I probably would’ve wound up on the floor alongside that drunk,” she teased.

The song switched over, and soon they were met with the sound of a soft acoustic arrangement from downstairs. Felix stepped back, extending his hand out to her.

“My lady,” he said with a shy smile. “May I have this dance?”

She took his hand and he pulled her close, placing his other hand on her waist. While he normally tended to be a bit of a show-off on the dance floor, right now all he wanted was to hold Tamora in his arms, to savor this perfect, intimate moment. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had somehow died and gone to heaven; the pure, unadulterated happiness he currently felt was nothing short of nirvana. The sentimental lyrics drifted up to them as they swayed together on the roof.

> _It won’t ever rain on us_  
>  It won’t ever get too rough  
> You know I can’t promise you that  
> But I promise I won’t look back

Felix leaned forward so that his cheek brushed against hers, and whispered sweetly into her ear.

“You make a wonderful dance partner.” He kissed her softly on the cheek.

“Oh, please,” she gently deflected his compliment. “I’ve never been much of a dancer. It’s probably for the best that we’re up here where no one can see me make a fool of myself.”

“You’re a fine dancer, Tammy,” he replied, leaning back to look into her eyes. He blushed as he continued. “Best dance partner I ever had.”

“I think you might be a little biased,” she smirked, trying not to let it show how much his words affected her.

“Maybe,” he smiled. “But when have I ever lied to you?”

Tamora chuckled. Felix was hit with a pang of guilt upon realizing that he  _had_  lied to her recently, about something fairly significant. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was going to come clean about his feelings before they went back downstairs. As he felt the song beginning to wind down, he decided to pull off at least one sophisticated move before their dance was through. He shifted his weight and pulled Tamora down in a dip, his face hovering just inches above hers. Their eyes met and he was suddenly overcome with emotion; this was the moment. He was going to tell her how he felt.

“Tamora, I…”

A raindrop met the back of his head, pulling him out of his thoughts. The large droplets continued, quickly turning into a heavy downpour. They froze in shock for a moment before rushing back over toward the stairwell where they huddled under the overhang above the door. Examining the positively drenched looks they were both now sporting, they couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I’m so sorry, Tammy,” he said. “Probably should’ve checked the forecast before I planned this.”

“It made the night more interesting, that’s for sure,” she replied. His heart somersaulted in his chest as he recognized her words, the same sentiments he had given her after walking her back to her dorm on their first night together. “I definitely won’t be forgetting this night anytime soon.”

Felix brushed her damp hair out of her eyes, feeling so many things at once that he wasn’t sure how to communicate them all to her. Knowing there were no words that could truly convey his feelings, he caressed her cheek and pulled her close for a kiss. Tamora returned the affection tenfold, burying her fingers in his hair. The wind kicked up, causing the rain to come down in a sideways sheet that the overhang couldn’t protect them from, but it didn’t matter; all they could focus on was each other. The kiss seemed to stretch on forever, neither of them willing to sever the intense connection. A loud crack of thunder boomed across the sky, startling them apart from each other. 

“Let’s get you back inside,” Felix said. 

As they headed back down the stairs, Tamora couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Felix had held himself back from saying to her. And as Felix let her re-enter the dance ahead of him so as not to arouse suspicion, he kicked himself for letting the opportunity pass him by. He hung back in the stairwell for a minute, going over everything that had just happened, whispering to himself the words he hadn’t been able to say to her:

“I love you.”


	16. Chapter 16

“So you still haven’t told her, huh?” asked Ralph.

Felix shook his head sadly in response. Several days had passed since the formal, and he had yet to work up the courage to confess his feelings to Tamora. Every time he thought back to their dance on the roof, he found a hundred moments that he could have told her how he felt, but he had let them all pass him by. In trying to make everything perfect, he had missed out on the thing that had caused him to plan the elaborate date in the first place. Now that he had missed such an unsurpassable opportunity, he was finding it impossible to find the right time to open up to her.

“Why didn’t you tell her when we got home that night?” 

“We got a little, uh…carried away when we got back,” Felix said, blushing and avoiding eye contact with Ralph. “I didn’t want a repeat of what happened the last time I said it.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Ralph replied. “But it would have been different that time, because you could have told her you meant it.”

“I know, I just…” Felix trailed off, searching for the right words to articulate his thoughts. “The moment didn’t feel right. That moment when we were on the roof and I was holding her close, I looked into her eyes and it felt  _right_. And I missed my chance.”

“Well, you’re not gonna be able to recreate that exact moment,” Ralph said. “And you have to tell her eventually.”

“I know, I just want everything to be perfect,” Felix said. “I don’t want to tell her I love her over a bowl of cereal in the morning, I want it to be special.”

“If you wait for everything to be perfect, you’re never going to tell her,” Ralph said, raising an eyebrow at Felix. “No matter where you are or what you’re doing, it’s going to be special. Trust me.”

“I guess…” Felix reluctantly agreed.

Before Ralph could offer any more reassurances, the pair were distracted by the sound of something sliding under their front door. They turned to find a copy of the school newspaper just inside the entryway to their apartment. Ralph picked it up and brought it over to the table.

“That’s weird, they usually just deliver these to the academic buildings and people can just pick ‘em up,” he said. “They’ve never delivered it to our apartment before.”

“Maybe they’re trying to attract new readers,” Felix suggested. He reached for the paper, pulling it across the table toward himself.

“That could be it,” Ralph said. “But why this apartment complex? We’re technically not even on campus.”

Felix gasped, his eyes glued to the photo attached to the main story. Ralph asked him what was wrong, but he couldn’t remove his focus from the image. Eventually giving up on conversation, Ralph rounded the table to look at the paper over Felix’s shoulder. Wordlessly, his short companion pointed to the seemingly innocuous group picture taken outside the formal they had just attended. In the back of the shot, a flash of blue caught his attention. Looking more closely, Ralph immediately recognized Felix and Tamora up on the roof. After a minute of stunned silence, Felix’s cell phone rang, startling them out of their thoughts. 

“Hello?” he answered.

“Felix, you need to get your hands on a copy of the school paper right now,” Tamora said from the other end.

“You got one too?” Felix asked. “Someone just slid it under our door.”

“So you’ve seen it, then?” she inquired. “You’ve seen the…”

“Yes, I’ve seen it,” he replied. “Are you busy? Maybe you should come over so we can figure this out.”

* * *

 

Within an hour, Tamora had joined Felix and Ralph at their kitchen table as they pored over the newspaper. 

“I asked around and nobody else on my hall got one delivered to their room,” Tamora said.

“That’s so strange,” Felix commented. “Why would someone only deliver this paper to the two of us and nobody else?”

The group suddenly seemed to come to a collective realization: someone knew about Felix and Tamora’s relationship.

“Let’s try and narrow this down,” Ralph said. “Who do you think would even want to use this against you?”

“I’m barely close enough to anyone at this school to have any enemies,” Tamora said.

“I can’t think of anybody that would want to do something like this to me,” Felix said, quite distressed by the prospect of having someone be so upset with him that they would do something like this. “Maybe we should just go talk to the author of this segment and ask them if they’d be willing to change out the picture.”

“Uh, I don’t think they’re gonna be willing to do that,” Ralph said as he read the name of the author. 

“Why not?” Felix asked.

Ralph turned the paper toward Felix and pointed to the name at the beginning of the story: Turner Thacker. Felix paled.

“Oh my land…”

“What?” Tamora asked, the unfamiliar name sparking no particular feeling for her. “What is it?”

“Well, y’see, Turner and I used to be close friends,” Felix explained. “He used to do drag racing on the weekends, and I used to help repair the cars between passes, and that’s where we got to know each other.”

“He went nuts when Felix started dating Mary,” Ralph interrupted. “Kept trying to sabotage the relationship until it eventually blew up into a big fight between them.”

“I didn’t understand why he had such a problem with my relationship, and he wouldn’t talk to me about it. Once I realized he was trying to break us up, I went to ask him about it, and it just turned into a big argument,” Felix said. “After that fight, we never really talked again. It’s been a couple years now.”

“Wonder what’s got old Turbo’s boxers in a twist this time,” Ralph huffed. 

“Turbo?” Tamora asked.

“His racing name,” Felix explained. “He had it painted on the side of his car.”

“Do you think he’s mad because he found out about us?” she suggested. “It seems like he has a problem with you dating.”

“Maybe,” Felix replied with a sigh. “I ought to go talk to him about this.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ralph said. 

“Ralph, I know you two never really got along, but he was a good friend to me,” Felix said. “Maybe I can still get through to him.”

“I don’t think so, but it’s your choice,” Ralph replied. “Just be careful, okay? Try not to give him anything he can use against you.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Tamora asked.

“No, I think it’s best if I do this alone,” he answered, giving her hand a squeeze before standing to leave. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

As he headed for the door, Tamora eyed Ralph questioningly. She couldn’t ignore the shift in Felix’s mood the moment they learned that it was Turner who wrote the article. Of course he was shocked, but there was also an underlying sadness she could tell he was trying to hide. Ralph shrugged, heaving a deep sigh.

“It’s complicated.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Hi, Turner.”

Felix stood in the doorway of the office for the school newspaper, this week’s copy rolled up under his arm. Turner sat behind a desk, his chin resting on his hands and a satisfied smirk on his yellowed teeth. 

“What brings you here?” he asked, poorly feigning ignorance.

“I got a special delivery this morning,” Felix replied, stepping forward and dropping the paper on the desk. It unfurled to reveal the incriminating photo in the middle of the front page.

“I don’t see anything wrong here,” Turner said with a smug look on his sallow complexion.

“Then look again,” Felix said, taking a seat across from him. 

“What, could it be the fact that there’s a couple visible in the background of this picture?” he asked, thoroughly enjoying the power he currently felt over Felix. “A couple who, perhaps, shouldn’t be together?”

“…What do you know?”

“Not much, but I know enough,” Turner said threateningly. “It wasn’t hard to identify the girl in this picture and trace her back to your beginner’s woodshop class. I know as well as you do that Dr. Persi would not take kindly to the relationship you seem to have with her.”

“What is it that you hope to gain from this?” Felix asked, his fear slowly turning to anger.

“Oh, Felix, what I want is quite simple,” he replied with a sickening smile gleaming in his eyes. “And I think you know what it is.”

Felix paused, unable to hide the hurt in his expression as he was forced to face the reality of his situation: Turner wanted to force him apart from Tamora.

“But why?” Felix asked. 

“It doesn’t matter why,” Turner answered, “because, either way, you’re going to give me what I want.”

“Why would I do that?” Felix asked, his level of anger increasing. “Why would I end things with Tamora when being with her makes me so happy?”

“Because if you don’t, this paper will be distributed all over campus,” Turner said, holding up the paper in question. “Everyone will know about your little secret, and then it’s only a matter of time until Dr. Persi fails you both.”

“Why can’t you just let me be happy?” Felix asked. “We used to be friends.”

“Yeah, well we aren’t friends anymore.”

“And I still don’t know why,” Felix sighed in exasperation. “I never wanted to stop being your friend. But you seemed to have such a problem with it when I dated Mary that you couldn’t spend time with me anymore.”

“I knew she wasn’t right for you,” Turner said quietly. “You said you loved her, but I could tell you didn’t mean it.”

“Is that why you tried to break us up?” Felix asked. “Why didn’t you just talk to me about it?”

“You think I didn’t try?” Turner spat. “You wouldn’t listen because you didn’t want to hurt her feelings. You pour so much of your energy into caring about others that you don’t even notice the people who care about you.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Forget it.”

“Turner, I… I know we didn’t end things on the best terms, but I miss you. I miss our friendship,” Felix said quietly. “We can go back to being friends and forget all about this. We can still get back to Fix-It Felix and Turbo-Tastic. I know we can.”

Turner’s expression softened for a moment as he recalled all the weekends they had spent at the race track, Felix rushing to fix his car every time he got a little too reckless and crashed into something. Every weekend, without fail, Felix had been there, sitting in the stands to cheer him on while he raced. Turner glanced up at Felix, who was sitting across from him, smiling hopefully. Suddenly, his soft expression hardened once more, and he glowered at Felix, whose smile began to falter.

“Don’t you dare try to make me nostalgic for the good old days,” Turner growled. “I know you don’t really care, you just want me to leave you and your little girlfriend alone. Well, it’s not going to work.”

“That’s not true,” Felix said. “I meant what I said. I still care about you.”

Turner laughed bitterly, taking Felix by surprise.

“Just drop the act, okay?” Turner said. He ran a hand through his dark, slicked-back hair. Upon realizing that he had just coated his fingers in hair gel, he attempted to discreetly wipe them off on his khaki shorts. “You’ve got one week before this goes to print. I’d act fast if I were you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Felix asked, almost physically pained by this betrayal. “Why do you want to see me hurt so badly?”

“You’re not the only one who’s hurt, Felix,” Turner said. “Now get out of my office.”

* * *

Felix trudged through the door of his apartment, feeling even worse than when he had left. Tamora had gone to class, but Ralph was still home lounging on the couch.

“Felix,” he said. “How’d it go?”

Sighing heavily, Felix plopped into the armchair, letting himself sink into the cushions. 

“Not well, I take it,” Ralph commented.

“He wants me to break up with Tamora,” Felix said. “If I don’t, then he’s going to print that paper and distribute it across campus.”

“Why that little–” Ralph stopped short, attempting to calm himself down before fully losing his temper. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Felix said. “He did say that he could tell Mary wasn’t right for me when we were together, that’s why he tried to break us up before. That he tried to talk to me about it, but I was too busy trying not to hurt her feelings.”

“I can’t exactly disagree with him there.”

“Ralph!” 

“That doesn’t mean I agree with his methods!” Ralph defended himself. “What did Tamora say when you told her?”

“Well, I… I didn’t exactly tell her,” Felix admitted.

“What?” Ralph asked. “Why not?”

“I don’t want her to have to worry about this. It’s my fault we’re in this mess, I’m the one who hurt Turner’s feelings in the past,” Felix explained. “And I don’t want her to try and end things between us to fix this. I couldn’t stand to lose her because of him.”

“Do you really think she would do that?”

“Well, she did take the fall when Dr. Persi caught us kissing before,” Felix said. “She didn’t want me to get in trouble because of her. I have a feeling she would do it again.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, brother,” Felix sighed in defeat. “Maybe I should just go to Dr. Persi and come clean. He might not punish Tamora if I take the blame.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No,” Felix said. “But I’m not sure what choice I have.”

“Well, don’t do anything just yet. Let’s see if we can’t find another way to deal with this,” Ralph said. “How long do you have before the paper goes out?”

“One week.”

“So we have some time before we have to figure this out,” Ralph said. “Let’s try not to make any rash decisions.”

Felix nodded in response, but his mind was elsewhere. Deep down, he knew it was his sole responsibility to fix this, and if that meant a failing grade and late graduation, then so be it. He wouldn’t let anyone else be hurt by this, especially not Tamora. It was ironic, really, the way this was playing out; it looked like Fix-It Felix was coming back one way or another.


	18. Chapter 18

> _It’s time for me to come clean about my feelings. I tried to deny it when I told you I love you because I was afraid. You’re the first person who’s ever made me feel this way, and I didn’t want to scare you away. But the truth is, I’m in love with you._

“What are you concentrating so hard on?” Tamora asked, coming up behind Felix.

“N-Nothing!” he blurted out, hurriedly closing his binder and resting his arm on top of it to prevent it being pulled open. “Just brainstorming for an essay I have to write tonight.”

“Is everything alright?” she asked, noting his somewhat panicked response to her presence.

“Yes, everything is fine,” he said, breathing deeply to calm himself down. “I just didn’t hear you come in is all.”

“I’ll try to make more noise next time,” she smirked, sitting in the chair next to his. 

They were seated at his kitchen table, where, up until moments ago, Felix had been attempting to write out his feelings in a letter to Tamora. He had tried a handful of times now to tell her how he felt, but each time, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Something about saying the words out loud made him feel tongue-tied and flustered, and he feared he would make a fool of himself trying to open up to her. He thought maybe a letter would be easier, because it would give him the time to choose his words more carefully before sharing them with her. However, the letter-writing was more difficult than he had envisioned; how could he possibly sum up his feelings for her in a few words?

“So how’d it go with Turner yesterday?” Tamora asked, rousing him from his thoughts. “What does he want?”

“He, um… He’s just upset over a disagreement we had back when we were still friends,” Felix said, scrambling for an explanation that wouldn’t reveal Turner’s true intentions. “I’m going to try and make it up to him this week and see if that helps things.”

“And how are you doing?” she asked, her tone soft. “I can tell this has been hard on you.”

“I’m alright, really,” he said with a sad smile as he reached for her hand. 

“Felix, you know you can talk to me about this,” she said. “I want to be there for you like you’ve been there for me.”

“Thank you, Tammy,” he said. “I’ll be okay. It’s just tough, losin’ a friend over a silly fight. We used to be really close, and now I hardly recognize him.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Is there any way I can help?”

“No, you already help more than you know,” he smiled softly. “Havin’ you in my life is more than enough to remind me that my friendship with Turner wasn’t nearly as perfect as I sometimes think it was. It’s easy to forget about the bad once you’ve distanced yourself from someone, but you and Ralph remind me what it’s supposed to feel like to be close to people.”

Tamora leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

“Even so, it still can’t be easy to have someone you used to consider a friend treat you like this,” she said. “I’ll always be here if you want to talk about it.”

“Thanks, that really means a lot,” he said, giving her a quick peck on the lips. “I’m one lucky fella.”

She kissed him again, and for a wonderful, brief moment she was all he could focus on, all thoughts of Turner and his current predicament far from his mind.

* * *

The following day, Felix sat across from Ralph in the dining hall, absently picking at the french fries on his plate.

“I just really think that going to Dr. Persi is my best option here,” he said.

“And I think that’s a sure-fire way to make sure that neither of you graduates on time,” Ralph replied. “There has to be another way.”

“Well, if you have any ideas, I’d be happy to hear them,” Felix snapped. His jaw dropped as he realized the tone he had just used, and he quickly stammered an apology. “I-I’m sorry, brother, I didn’t mean that.”

“Is everything okay?” Ralph asked. “I mean, besides the whole Turner thing. It seems like something else is bothering you.”

“I’m okay, I just… I still haven’t told her how I feel and it’s really starting to get to me,” Felix said, his forehead in his hands. “Every time she smiles at me, or holds my hand, or kisses me, there’s this voice in my head that won’t stop repeating it: ‘I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.’ Over and over again, Ralph. Anything I do to try and quiet it down only seems to make it louder.”

“I think it’s time you finally just came out and told her,” Ralph said sympathetically. “Clearly your brain is struggling to keep it in.”

“I wrote her a letter,” Felix said, pulling the note from his binder and placing it on the table. “But I can’t decide how or when to give it to her. Should I be there when she reads it? Should I leave it for her to read later? Is the note even a good idea, or should I just come right out and say it?”

“Felix, I think you’re putting a little too much thought into this,” Ralph said. “You’re not asking her to marry you, you’re just telling her how you feel. Three words, that’s it.”

“I know, but it  _is_ kind of a big deal. I mean, after what she’s been through, it’s going to be pretty meaningful for me to say that to her. And for me, too,” he said. “I’ve said it before, but I’ve never meant it. Not like this.”

“I know,” Ralph said. “But look, you guys obviously care a lot about each other, it’s not like she’s going to leave you if everything’s not perfect in the moment. Just give her the note, or tell her, but either way, do it soon. Don’t let it keep you up at night.”

“You’re right, brother,” Felix sighed. “I just get so into my head about these things sometimes. This all feels new to me since I’ve never really been in love like this before.”

“I’m sure everything is going to be fine,” Ralph replied. “Try not to think so much about it, just go with your gut.”

“I think I will,” Felix said with a smile. “Thanks, Ralph. Now, I’ve got to get to my office hours. And  _you_  need to go to class.”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot about that,” Ralph chuckled. 

The pair stood from the table, gathering their things. As Felix picked up their trash, he didn’t even notice his note to Tamora as it fluttered off the table and onto the ground, nor did he notice the pale hand that grabbed it off the floor as he headed for the trash can. As Felix left the dining hall, he didn’t see the pair of yellow eyes that lit up with devilish glee as they scanned the contents of the letter.

“How  _very_  interesting…”


	19. Chapter 19

“Felix, are you there?” a voice called from outside his apartment. 

“Coming!” Felix replied as he headed for the door.

Whoever was here, Felix hoped their visit would be brief. He was expecting Tamora soon, and didn’t want to run the risk of anyone seeing her at his apartment. He opened the door, noticeably surprised by the person standing on the other side.

“…Mary?”

“Hi, Felix,” she said with a shy smile.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I wanted to see you,” she answered.

“Really?” he asked, undeniably confused. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, I just… Why?”

“Oh, don’t play coy with me, I know you know why,” she teased, placing a hand on his chest. Felix flinched at the contact.

“I’m afraid I don’t, Mary,” he said, taking her hand off of him.

“Oh, silly,” she smiled with a playful roll of her eyes. “I guess I’ll just have to remind you, then.”

Mary leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Felix nearly stumbled over backwards trying to pull away from her before he finally managed to push her back by the shoulders.

“What are you doing?!” he asked, utterly bewildered by her actions.

“I got your note,” she said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. Felix immediately recognized it as the letter he had written for Tamora. “If you wanted to get back together, you should’ve just said so.”

“Where did you get that?” he asked, taking the paper from her.

“Someone slid it under my door this morning,” she said. “There was no signature, but I’d recognize your handwriting anywhere. I always knew it was only a matter of time before you came to your senses and found your way back to me.”

“Mary, I think there’s been some kind of mistake,” he said, his eyes poring over the words he had spent so long perfecting for Tamora. “I didn’t write you this note.”

“Of course you did,” she replied. “I know this is your handwriting. And who else could it be for? You say right here that this is the first time you’ve ever been in love.“ 

She pointed to the sentence in question:  _You’re the first person who’s ever made me feel this way, and I didn’t want to scare you away. But the truth is, I’m in love with you._ Felix felt his heart sink as he realized that, in order to clear up this misunderstanding, Mary would find out that he had never been in love with her. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he knew it would only make things worse if she believed that he wanted to get back together with her.

“Well, you’re right, I did write this note, but um…” he paused, bracing himself for the impact that would follow the end of his sentence, “I didn’t… Mary, I’m sorry, but I didn’t write it for you.”

“What?” she breathed, stunned by his words.

“And I don’t know who gave it to you, but I promise that I never intended for you to read this,” he began to ramble. “I would never deceive you like this on purpose. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Mary sniffled. “You never loved me, it’s fine.”

“Mary, please don’t think this means that I never cared about you,” Felix said. 

“Right, you cared enough to lie to me about your feelings for months,” Mary replied.

“But I wasn’t–-I really thought I was in love with you,” he explained.

“Oh, even better,” she said with a bitter laugh. “You  _thought_  you loved me until you found someone better and realized I wasn’t good enough for you after all.”

“That’s not true,” Felix said. “Just because we aren’t right for each other doesn’t mean I don’t see what a wonderful person you are.”

“Just save it, okay?” Mary cried. “I don’t want to hear this from you right now.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Felix said, struggling for the right words to comfort her. “I never meant for you to get hurt.”

“Well, I did,” she spat. “Whether you meant to or not, you hurt me.”

“Please, I–”

“Forget it,” she said. “I’m leaving.”

“Mary, wait!” he called, but she didn’t respond as she hurried down the hall.

On the other end of the hallway, Tamora opened the door from the stairwell as she headed toward Felix’s apartment. As she made her way down the hall, she thought she recognized the girl running in the opposite direction, fighting back tears. Attempting to shake it off, she looked up toward her destination, where she was surprised to find that Felix was already standing in the doorway, looking in the direction the crying girl had gone. After a moment, he finally seemed to notice Tamora walking toward him.

“Tamora, hi,” he said a bit too brightly, even for him.

“Was that Mary?” she asked, walking past him into the apartment.

“Y-Yes, it was,” Felix stammered as he followed her inside, closing the door behind him.

“What happened, is she alright?” Tamora asked. “It looked like she was crying.”

Felix paused, weighing his options. He couldn’t exactly tell her the truth: that the love letter he had written for her had somehow wound up in the hands of his ex-girlfriend, causing her to come by thinking he wanted to rekindle their relationship. That explanation would force him to show Tamora the note, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet. But how else could he explain the image of his old flame leaving his apartment crying?

“Well, she um…” Felix trailed off, scrambling for an answer. “She was feeling a bit stressed, what with finals coming up soon. I think the pressure was getting to her a bit.”

"Then why did she come here?” Tamora asked, confused as to why Mary would do that when she and Felix hadn’t spoken in months.

“You know, I… I’m not sure,” he answered unconvincingly. 

Suddenly, something caught Tamora’s eye.

“What’s this?” she asked, reaching for the note, which was still in his hand.

“Nothing!” he blurted out, shoving the paper into his pocket. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Felix, what’s going on?” Tamora asked. “I can tell there’s something you’re keeping from me.”

“Nothing is going on,” Felix answered. “Everything is fine.”

“Felix, I just want to help,” she said. “Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Felix said defensively. “I’ve got everything under control.”

“What, do you think I’m too weak to handle your problems?” Tamora asked, her temper beginning to flare. “Or is there another reason you don’t want to talk to me about why your ex-girlfriend was in your apartment?”

“Tammy, there’s nothing going on between me and Mary, you know that,” he said.

“I would feel a lot more certain about that if you would just talk to me,” she said.

“I’m sorry, Tammy, I…” he paused, every fiber of his being practically screaming at him to  _just tell her you love her already_ –-but his stomach churned at the thought, and he did his best to push it aside. “I know this looks bad, but I promise it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” she scoffed. “Look, I understood when you didn’t want to talk about Turner, but it’s obvious that there’s something else going on here.”

“I’m only trying to keep you from getting hurt,” he attempted to reason with her.

“We both know I don’t need protecting, Felix,” she said coldly. “Tell me the real reason Mary was here.”

“Please, just trust me,” he pleaded.

“Why should I?” she asked. Her tone became more demanding as she continued. “Show me what’s on that piece of paper.”

“I…” Felix trailed off, his blood running cold with fear. He felt sick with shame as he answered her request. “I can’t.”

“Fine,” she said, moving for the door. “I’m not going to hang around here with you while you try to feed me more excuses. I’m going home.”

“Tammy, please, don’t go,” Felix cried out, his eyes brimming with tears. 

Tamora turned to face him.

“Tell me the truth and I’ll stay,” she said. Felix whimpered but otherwise remained silent. She nodded gravely. “That’s what I thought.”

The moment the door slammed shut behind her, Felix broke down. She had never been angry at him like this before, and he was racked with guilt in knowing the whole situation had been entirely his fault. More than anything, he was angry with himself for being too cowardly to tell her how he felt. None of this would have happened if he had just brought himself to open up to her. Now, he feared he may never get that chance.

A slip of paper slid under his door, breaking him out of his moment of self-loathing. He reached down to pick it up, the words on the page causing his blood to boil with rage. There was no signature, but he didn’t need one; he knew exactly who this message was from.

> _Two in one night, huh, Felix? Talk about a rough time. I’d hurry up and make a decision if I were you, or things might only get worse. The stakes just got higher._


	20. Chapter 20

Felix stormed into the office of the school newspaper with several papers in hand. The moment he burst through the door, his eyes zeroed in on the person who was about to be on the receiving end of his wrath: Turner Thacker. Turner sat behind a desk in a small office that was separated from the rest of the workspace, looking as though he had been awaiting Felix’s arrival. Felix stomped into the room, letting the door slam shut behind him. 

“Well, it took you long enough,” said Turner.

“What did you do?!” Felix demanded, ignoring Turner’s greeting.

“Why, what ever do you mean?” Turner asked with a cheeky smile.

Felix flung his papers down on the desk, where they landed with a loud “thump.” Looking at the items before him, Turner saw that he had brought the copy of the newspaper with the incriminating photo, his love letter to Tamora, and the note that had been slipped under his door. 

“I know you’re behind this somehow,” Felix said. “I don’t know how, but you got your hands on this note that I wrote for Tamora and gave it to Mary.”

“Those are some pretty heavy accusations,” Turner replied.

“Mary was really hurt by this, Turner,” Felix said. “She thought I wanted to get back together. And then Tamora, she saw Mary leaving my apartment and assumed the worst.”

“It’s pretty incredible how quickly you managed to upset both of them,” Turner chuckled. “You probably beat some sort of record.”

“Look, whatever grudge you’re holding, it’s between you and me, not them,” Felix said. “Leave them out of this.”

“Now, why would I do that when they make it so much easier to get you riled up like this?” Turner asked, looking entirely too satisfied with himself. “I’ve got to say, I like seeing you this way. The take-charge attitude is a good look for you.”

Felix took a deep breath in an attempt to tamp down some of his anger.

“Look, I didn’t come here to fight with you,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know that your attempt to blackmail me isn’t going to work. As soon as I leave here, I’m going to Dr. Persi to tell him everything about my relationship with Tamora.”

“If such a relationship even exists anymore,” Turner chimed in.

“Go ahead and publish that paper; I don’t care,” Felix continued. “You don’t have any power over me anymore.”

“Oh, you think this is still about the paper?” Turner said with a devilish grin. “It looks like you misinterpreted my note.”

He opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a photograph. 

“I’ve got something much better than that blurry old picture,” Turner said, placing the photo on the desk so Felix could see it. He gasped in horror at the image: Turner had somehow captured a picture of the moment Mary had kissed him. 

“How… How did you—?” Felix swallowed hard. “Are you going to put that in the paper?”

“Oh, please, my publishers would never approve this,” Turner said. “Besides, printing a newspaper takes time and I’ve never been one for delayed gratification.”

“So, what are you going to do with that?” Felix asked, his anger returning in full force.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Turner said with a shrug. “It would be easy to email it to the inbox of every student on campus. It would be just as quick to post it on one of the social media accounts for the paper. Or all of them.”

“ _Why are you doing this?_ ” Felix growled. He slammed his hands down onto the desk, standing with hunched shoulders over Turner. “Why can’t you just let it go and move on with your life?”

“I wanted you to know how it feels,” Turner responded. “Mary, too. Tamora was just a bonus.”

“How what feels?” Felix asked.

“To want someone you can’t have, someone you  _shouldn’t_  have,” Turner answered. 

“Is this really still about me and Mary? Turner, that was years ago,” Felix said.

“And you  _still_  care more about her feelings than you ever cared about mine,” Turner replied, his voice rising in volume.

“What are you talking about?”

“You never wanted to date her! You knew she liked you and you were so concerned about hurting her feelings that you went out with her anyway,” Turner said as though it should have been obvious. “You two dated for nearly a year even though you never felt a thing for her, and I knew you would have never done the same for me.”

“…What are you saying?” Felix asked hesitantly.

“Oh, don’t act oblivious,” Turner said, growing irritated with Felix’s supposed innocence. “I made it more than obvious how I felt about you.”

“Turner, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Felix replied, his confusion evident on his face.

“I was in love with you, alright?” Turner shouted, standing from his seat with his face barely an inch from Felix’s.

“What?” Felix asked quietly, Turner’s confession knocking the breath out of him.

“I loved you, and I couldn’t stand to watch you with Mary knowing it was all an act,” Turner said, coming down from his anger, although he was still panting for breath. He took a step back. “You just seemed stuck in that relationship, not knowing how to end it. I know it was stupid, but I thought that maybe if I got you out of it, you would see…”

He trailed off, taking on an uncharacteristic expression of shame and embarrassment.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Felix asked. “I would have—”

“Would have what, Felix?” Turner snapped. “Turned gay for me? Pretended for my sake? It would have been exactly the same as it was with Mary, and I knew that, but there was this small, stupid part of my brain that couldn’t let go of the hope that maybe you could love me back.”

“Did you really expect that I would fall in love with you after finding out that you intentionally ruined my relationships so you could have your shot with me?” Felix asked in utter disbelief of the logic behind Turner’s plan. “I don’t know what kind of sick, twisted idea of love you have in your head, but that is  _not_  love.”

“I know it didn’t make any sense,” Turner tried to explain. “I was so blinded by my feelings for you, and so hurt from feeling rejected, that I couldn’t think straight.”

“Look, Turner, I’m really sorry that I hurt you,” Felix said. “But that is not an excuse to go around hurting others on purpose.”

“I’m sorry,” Turner said, his voice smaller than Felix had ever heard it. “Do you think there’s any chance that you could ever forgive me?”

“I… I don’t know, Turner,” Felix said, his bottom lip quivering and his eyes growing damp. “I’m having a hard time with the fact that you being in love with me caused you to do something so harmful and selfish. And the fact that you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about any of this, I just…”

“I tried, so many times,” Turner said, tears beginning to form in his own eyes. “I was scared of what would happen if I told you. I thought I might lose you as a friend. And then that happened anyway.”

“I can’t say for certain what I would have done if you had told me about your feelings back then,” Felix said, his voice thick. “But I can guarantee you that things between us would not be what they are right now.”

There was a brief moment of silence as the pair paused to gather their thoughts. Felix felt somewhat dizzy, his head reeling from this news, and he was finding it more and more difficult to look at Turner with each passing second. Suddenly, he felt a desperate need to leave, to go and find Tamora and fix the mess he had helped to create.

“…So, what do we do now?” Turner asked, timidly breaking the silence.

“Well, what  _I’m_  going to do is go explain all this to Tamora and hope she can forgive me,” Felix said. “Because I love her and I did something that hurt her and I can’t go another minute without telling her how I feel.”

“So that’s it, then,” Turner said. “After all that, you’re just going to leave?”

“I’m not sure what else I’m supposed to do, Turner,” Felix replied. “I… I think it’s best if we give each other some space for a while.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“And I understand if you’re upset by all this, but I’m going to ask that you don’t come near Mary or Tamora,” Felix said, his tone firm. “If you’re still angry, you can take it up with me. But I won’t let you hurt them again.”

“Felix, please—”

“Goodbye, Turner.”

At that, he grabbed the note he had written for Tamora and left, closing the door behind him. Turner finally gave in to the tears that he had been fighting to keep at bay, slumping back down in his chair. For a moment, he considered accepting this outcome and doing his best to move on from it; maybe he could finally find a healthier way to handle all these negative emotions. Yes, he  _almost_  took the high road.

Instead, he wiped his face on his sleeve and pulled out his cell phone, taking a picture of the photo of Felix and Mary that was still on his desk. It took only a few seconds for him to draft a message and hit “Send.” He finally began to feel like himself again as he received the confirmation that his message had been delivered—not to the whole school, but to the one person he knew would be the most deeply affected by receiving it. As he swept the papers that Felix had left behind into the trash, Turner chuckled to himself.

He had never been one for taking the high road.


	21. Chapter 21

It would have been easy for Felix to call Tamora; even easier to send her a text. But the sudden, frantic need to  _see_  her overpowered these more logical options and urged him to sprint across campus in search of her. He couldn’t be certain where she was but he knew that she was usually eating dinner in the dining hall around this time, so that’s where his feet carried him, his burning muscles doing nothing to discourage his journey. As he barreled through the door, he caught the attention of a few of the people sitting near the entrance. Among them was Tamora, who was just sliding her phone into her pocket when she caught sight of him.

“Tammy,” he panted, rushing up to her. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“I think it’s all been said, Felix,” she responded, her tone cold and her jaw set. 

Without another word, she stood from her table, carrying her tray over to the trash can.

“What do you mean?” he asked as he trailed after her. “I’m… I’m sorry I was so secretive before but I want to explain.”

“I don’t think this needs any explaining,” she snapped, unlocking her phone and pushing the screen into his face. Felix felt his blood run cold as he realized what had happened: Turner had sent the photo of Mary kissing him to Tamora.

“Please, let me explain,” Felix said. “I promise that’s not what it looks like.”

“So it’s not you kissing your ex-girlfriend?” she asked matter-of-factly.

“W-Well,  _technically_ , yes, that  _is_  what’s happening but–”

“Just save it, okay?” she said. “I don’t want to hear any more excuses about this, I’m done.”

“But if you would just listen–”

“I’ve heard enough,” she said, clenching her jaw in an attempt to keep the tears that had begun to form contained. She headed for the door.

“Tammy,  _wait!_ ” Felix shouted as he stood up on a nearby chair.

The sheer volume of his voice was enough to capture the focus of most of the students in the dining hall as it echoed through the large room, and Tamora reluctantly turned back around to face him. Now that he had drawn so much attention to himself, he was beginning to regret this course of action. However, he was here now, Tamora was standing in front of him, and he wasn’t going to put this off any longer.

“I know you’re mad at me and I understand why,” he began. “And if you never want to speak to me again after this, I get it. But you deserve the truth.”

Although her resentful expression remained unchanged, Tamora nodded for him to continue.

“A long time ago, I did something that really hurt Turner. I didn’t know it at the time, and he’s still upset by it, which is why he’s lashing out like this. He found this note that I wrote.” He pulled said note from his pocket and held it up for her to see. “He took it and gave it to Mary, letting her think I wrote it for her. She came to my apartment under the impression that I wanted to get back together with her.”

Tamora immediately recognized the paper in his hand as the very same scrap of paper that had ignited their earlier fight. Things began to make more sense as he described the situation. 

“She kissed me, and somehow Turner got a picture when it happened. That’s what he sent to you today.” He gulped as he readied himself to finally confess his feelings to Tamora. “But I didn’t write this note for her. I wrote it for you.”

By this point, most of the people in the cafeteria had turned back to their previous conversations–they had all seen stranger things during their time in college. With unsteady hands, he unfolded the note and held it out in front of him. He looked straight into Tamora’s eyes as he recited the words that had taken him so long to perfect that he had them memorized.

“It’s time for me to come clean about my feelings. I tried to deny it when I told you I love you because I was afraid. You’re the first person who’s ever made me feel this way, and I didn’t want to scare you away. But the truth is, I’m in love with you.”

Felix felt his eyes grow damp with tears as he finally got those words off his chest. The moment had been far from perfect, but a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders at finally having bared his soul to her.

“I’m sorry I kept that from you for so long,” he said, his voice brittle as he tried to speak around the lump in his throat. “I wanted to protect you, but I should have been smart enough to realize that you don’t need protection, from me or anyone else.”

“Felix…”

Tamora had remained frozen for most of his speech. His declaration didn’t necessarily surprise her–-she had already heard him admit to these feelings before-–but she hadn’t been fully aware of how much it meant to him to say those words to her. Seeing him like this, completely vulnerable as he stood on a chair in the middle of a crowded cafeteria and laid his heart out for the world to see, ignited something deep within her. 

“I know you’re not ready to love me back just yet,” he said, one or two stubborn tears falling down his cheeks. “But if you could let me love you, I would be the happiest guy on this campus.”

“Get down here,” she demanded.

Felix stepped down from the chair, approaching her with caution. Her expression was difficult to read, and he feared that he had already caused enough damage to lose her for good. As soon as he was within arm’s reach, she grabbed his shirt and yanked him close to her, planting her lips on his. He responded with great enthusiasm, winding his arms around her. Everything around them was long forgotten as they clung to each other, their kiss breathless and wild. She pulled away, looking at him fiercely.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?” she asked with a firm voice, although a hint of a smirk was playing at her lips.

“Well, I-I…”

“I think it’s  _my_  place to say whether or not I’m ready to love you,” she said, her smile slowly growing.

“Wait, I–What?”

“I love you, Felix,” she said, her expression becoming almost bashful in the aftermath of her confession.

As Tamora’s words rang in his ears, Felix was completely overcome with emotion. There was nothing he could do to stop himself from leaning in toward her once more and kissing her like it was the last thing he would ever do. He couldn’t get the image of her shy smile and flushed cheeks out of his mind, and he never wanted to forget how beautiful she had looked in that moment she had told him she loved him. 

“Excuse me, um…” An unfamiliar voice broke them out of their lovestruck haze. They parted and looked toward its source, finding a student neither of them recognized standing before them. “Would you mind moving out of the way? You’re blocking the salad bar.”

The now-embarrassed couple quickly untangled themselves from each other and moved out of the way, instead choosing to take a seat at a nearby table. Felix scooted his chair as close as possible to Tamora’s, unable to whip the smile off his face, despite the slight humiliation of having their kiss interrupted in such a way. He laid his note out on the table.

“I spent a lot of time writing and re-writing this,” he said with a chuckle. “Somehow I felt like I could never get it quite right. There just aren’t enough words to tell you how much I love you.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Tamora said, taking the note in her hands. “Short and sweet. Reminds me of someone I know.”

“I love you,” he replied, the words tasting sweet on his tongue. It had never felt so good to say them before. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “And I really am sorry about everything. If I had just bucked up the courage to tell you how I felt sooner, we never would’ve gotten in this mess.”

“You’re not the only one who’s been waiting too long to say those words,” she admitted.

“I still can’t believe it,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “Hearing you say that means more to me than anything in the world. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“Well, you’d better believe it, because it’s true,” Tamora teased. “I love you.”

He kissed her again, unable to hold back as her words sent a rush of butterflies into his stomach. Breaking the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and just enjoying this moment of closeness. It hadn’t been long since their fight, but it felt like forever since the last time he had been with her like this. After taking a moment to reflect on everything that had just happened, a thought occurred to him.

“…We just did that in front of the entire cafeteria,” he said. 

“…We sure did.”

“Well, I had planned on telling Dr. Persi today anyway. That’s where I was going to go after talking to Turner,” Felix said. “But after I had that conversation, I just needed to see you, to tell you how I feel. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.”

“You were going to tell Dr. Persi?” she asked.

“I had hoped that maybe if I came out and told him the truth, I could convince him not to punish you, or at least not as harshly,” he explained. “I didn’t want to have that hanging over my head anymore, not with Turner trying to blackmail us. And I don’t care what punishment he gives me, as long as it doesn’t affect you.”

“Felix, you don’t have to take the blame for this,” she said. “I’m just as guilty as you are.”

“But I’m the one he entrusted with more responsibility as a teaching assistant, I deserve a worse punishment,” he said, taking her hand in his. “You’ve worked so hard to get where you are now, I don’t want anything I’ve done to jeopardize that.”

“This is something  _we_  did, Felix.” She squeezed his hand. “I think we should tell him together.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, looking at her seriously. “Because I don’t have a problem taking the fall for this.”

“And I would do the same for you,” she replied. “So let’s do this together.”

“If you say so,” he said with a small smile. His expression became suddenly meek as he continued. “But, um… Do you think we could wait until tomorrow to do that?”

“Sure, but why?” Tamora asked curiously.

“Well, I just… I was hoping maybe you’d like to come over tonight, because I…” he fidgeted nervously for a moment before finding the right words. “I just don’t want to think about anything else but you.”

It almost made Tamora laugh, his timid request. Moments ago, he had practically shouted his love for all to hear, yet he was bashful as he asked her to come over for the night. She was positive she would never fully understand him, but she was just as certain that she would never stop finding his sheepish affection adorable. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she replied.

“I’d love to.”


	22. Chapter 22

“So, how bad’s your punishment?” Ralph asked, taking a swig of beer.

“Surprisingly mild,” Tamora answered from across the table. “I have to do the final project without any help from Felix, and he has to get up early to proctor the final exam for Dr. Persi’s other class at eight A.M.”

“I don’t know what made Dr. Persi decide to go so easy on us,” Felix added.

“That’s kind of a miracle,” Ralph said.

The trio were seated in a booth at a casual restaurant not far from campus. Earlier in the day, Tamora and Felix had come clean to Dr. Persi about their relationship. It excited Felix to no end to finally go out in public with Tamora--he hadn’t let go of her hand since they had arrived at the restaurant. And neither of them could express the relief they felt now that they knew they would still be getting the class credit they needed. 

“It’s gonna drive me crazy not to help her with her project, though,” Felix said.

“Yeah, it kinda feels like you got double the punishment there,” Tamora replied with a smirk. “But I think I can handle the project just fine on my own.”

Felix pouted. Tamora kissed him on the nose.

“After all, I did learn from the best,” she added with a wink.

“Aww shucks, Tammy,” Felix said, his cheeks flushing a deep pink. 

Ralph opened his mouth to complain about their over-the-top cuteness when another voice sounded from the end of their table. 

“Hey,” the visitor said.

“Turner,” Felix replied, quite surprised to see him there. He was even more surprised by the black eye he was sporting. “What happened to you?”

“I tried to apologize to Mary for giving her that note,” Turner replied. “She, uh... She punched me in the face.”

“Good for her,” Tamora nodded approvingly.

“Look, I know I messed up, but I wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” Turner continued. He looked at each person at the table. “All of you.”

Tamora’s free hand curled into a fist under the table and Ralph’s temper began rising to the surface. Felix spoke up before either of them could say or do anything that could get them kicked out of the restaurant.

“Thank you for saying that, Turner,” Felix said, attempting to appear more calm than he felt. “I appreciate your apology, but I think it might be a little too fresh for some of us to move on from right now.”

He shot a pointed glance at Tamora and then Ralph, hoping he could convince them to hold it together for the time being. 

“I understand,” Turner replied. “I want you guys to know that I went to Dr. Persi’s office yesterday and told him everything.”

“What do you mean, ‘everything?’” Felix asked.

“I told him I was blackmailing you and that’s why you didn’t confess to him about your relationship sooner,” Turner explained. “If it weren’t for me, you never would’ve been in a position where you felt like you had to tell him, and I didn’t want you to get in trouble for that.”

“Oh,” Felix replied, truly touched by Turner’s actions. It also made more sense now why Dr. Persi had chosen not to punish them so harshly. “Thank you. That really means a lot.”

“I just wanted you to know that I’m trying to be a better person. I’m working on it,” Turner said. “I don’t know if you’re free tomorrow, but I was hoping maybe we could sit down and talk things out.”

“Tamora and I already have plans to go out tomorrow night,” Felix said. He planned to leave it at that, but upon seeing Turner’s pained expression at his response, he decided to amend his answer. “But,” he added, “I’ll be around if you’re going to be racing this weekend.”

“Well, I wanted to,” Turner replied a bit sheepishly. “But, well, uh, my car’s still pretty dinged up from my last race, and the guys at the shop are too fed up with me to make any more repairs.”

“Well,” Felix began cautiously, already anticipating that his answer would not sit well with the rest of his party, “depending on what kind of free time I have this weekend, I... I might be able to help you out with that.”

He felt Tamora’s hand clench around his and he gulped, knowing he would be facing her wrath along with Ralph’s the moment Turner left their table.

“Thank you, Felix,” Turner said, exhaling a deep sigh of relief. “I’ll leave you guys to your dinner now.”

As soon as Turner left the restaurant, Felix was faced with a verbal attack from two different directions. He didn’t know who to look at, and he couldn’t make out a thing either of them was saying as they talked over each other. After a moment, he put his hands up in front of himself in an effort to get them to stop long enough to explain himself.

“Listen, this is not me saying I forgive Turner for everything,” he said. “But he at least deserves a chance to earn forgiveness. He’s clearly trying to do better.”

“This is a terrible idea, Felix,” Ralph said. “You literally  _just_  learned why you can’t reason with him like an adult.”

“I understand why you feel that way,” Felix said. “But we talked the other day before he sent that picture to Tamora, and now I know why he was so upset in the first place. It doesn’t excuse anything, but now I get where he’s coming from. I’d at least like to get to the point where we can be civil toward each other.”

“I’ll show him civility just as soon as I blacken his other eye,” Tamora muttered. 

“And you have every right to feel that way,” Felix responded. “Whether or not you choose to forgive him is not a decision I can make for you. But I’m going to give him a chance.”

Ralph and Tamora grumbled in reluctant agreement with Felix’s statement. 

“Fine,” Tamora said. “But if he messes up again, I get to punch him in the face.”

“I think that’s a compromise we can all live with.”

* * *

 

The following morning, Felix walked hand-in-hand with Tamora across campus for her woodshop exam. Once the exam period started, the class would have two hours to build a simple birdhouse. Felix could feel his anxiety starting to build due to the fact that he wouldn’t be allowed inside while they worked on their projects; normally, the TA would be around during this time to offer basic assistance as needed, but since Tamora had been barred from receiving his help, he was forced to stay outside.

“Are you sure you have everything you need?” he asked as they approached the classroom door. 

“Positive,” Tamora answered with an amused smile. It was cute how much this was bothering him. “You made me check three times before leaving your apartment.”

“Maybe we should check one more time, just in case,” he said.

“Felix,” Tamora said, stopping and turning to face him. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“You know I can’t do that,” he said. He gave her hand a squeeze.

“I know,” Tamora smiled. “Just try your best to keep it off your mind. I’ll text you as soon as I’m done.”

“Well, I was thinking maybe I’d just hang out here, there’s some benches I could sit on by the classroom door.”

“If you sit right outside my classroom while I do this project, I think you might actually explode,” Tamora chuckled. “Go grab some coffee and hang out in the student union.”

“Alright,” he reluctantly agreed. “But for the record, I would much rather stay close by.”

“I’m sure you would,” Tamora said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. She released his hand and took a step toward the door. “Well, it’s about that time.”

“Promise you’ll let me know when you’re finished?”

“I promise,” she answered with a smile. 

She turned toward the door and had almost made it there when his voice stopped her.

“Tammy?”

“Yes?” she asked, turning back to face him.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

She turned toward the classroom once more, unable to hide the soft smile on her face.

“Oh, and Tammy?”

“Yes, Felix?” she asked, her amusement clear on her face when she turned back around.

“I love you.”

Tamora paused, taking a moment to reflect on how she had wound up with such an overwhelmingly sweet person in her life. She walked back over to him, reeling him in for a kiss. Felix could hear his heart thumping in his ears at the sudden act of affection. Pulling away, she smiled down at him before walking to the classroom door one final time. Before stepping inside, she turned over her shoulder to look at him standing right where she had left him, his face a vibrant red.

“I love you, too.”


	23. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't resist giving you guys one last update on this fic. The college au turned into a bit of a beast, but I had so much fun writing it and I'm honestly a little sad that it's all wrapped up now. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

“Are you ready?”

“I am, brother.”

Ralph opened the door and led Felix out of their apartment. It was the night of the spring formal, and they were headed out to pick up Tamora at her dorm. Ralph thought his friend’s smile might actually split his face open, it was so wide. He couldn’t blame him, though; he had been waiting for this night for months.

“You sure you don’t want me to drive?” Ralph asked. 

“No, I’ll drive,” Felix answered.

“Alright, but if you crash us into something on the way there because you’re too busy daydreaming, I will hold it against you for the rest of your life.”

* * *

Tamora had debated whether she should wear the same dress she had worn to the winter formal or buy a new one. Part of her wanted to see his reaction to a new dress, since he had been so floored by the last one. But the other part of her knew that he loved that dress and was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to show her off in it before. Considering his affinity for more dignified social events like this, she figured there would be plenty of chances for her to wear something new–tonight, she wanted to give him the chance to relive the dance he had wanted to have with her all those months ago.

Felix had just stepped out of his truck when she exited the building, slowly walking down the steps toward him. He hurried over to her and held out his hand to help guide her down the stairs. They both knew she didn’t need his help, but she indulged his chivalry and accepted his hand in hers. Once she had made it to the sidewalk, he took her other hand and looked up into her eyes.

“I told you I was going to come upstairs to pick you up,” he said with a soft smile.

“I know, but the elevator’s broken and I didn’t want to make you climb the stairs,” she replied. 

“I’d do it a hundred times over for you,” he said, bringing one of her hands to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. 

“Alright, fine,” she sighed in mock annoyance. “Maybe there’s also a little, tiny, microscopic part of me that didn’t want to wait any longer than I had to to see you all spiffed up.”

A furious blush bloomed on his face as she spoke. It wasn’t often that she complimented him this way, although those moments had slowly increased in frequency over the last few months. Still, it made his heart skip a beat to hear her say something like that to him.

“I couldn’t wait to see you either, Tammy,” he replied. “You look even more beautiful in that dress than I remember.”

“Thank you, Felix,” she said, her face flushing slightly. 

Felix couldn’t hold himself back any longer and leaned up to kiss her. Even now, months after they had made their relationship public, it still sent a thrill down his spine to kiss her out in the open like this. Ralph shut the passenger door to the truck, jolting the couple out of their moment of affection.

“Not to crash this little love-fest, but can we get going sometime today?” he teased.

As they separated and headed toward the car, Tamora leaned in close to whisper in Felix’s ear.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have our own private love-fest when we get back tonight.”

She chuckled at the cherry-red hue that claimed his face, ears, and neck. He could feel the heat from her words all the way up to his scalp, and his ruddy complexion didn’t fade until they had nearly arrived at the venue.

Felix was overcome by a wave of déjà vu as they climbed out of his truck. It felt strange to come back here so many months later under such different circumstances. The last time he had been in this spot, he had been forced to let go of Tamora’s hand and walk inside alone, unable to show the world that they were together. Tonight, he intertwined their fingers and proudly stepped inside with her at his side. 

They slowly made their way around the room, Felix stopping every few feet to introduce her– _his girlfriend_ , the thought made him giddy–to a friend. As he turned away from an old classmate, Felix found himself face-to-face with Turner Thacker. 

“Hey, Felix,” Turner said softly.

“Hi, Turner.”

There was a brief moment of silence between them. Over the last few months, Turner had put in a good deal of effort to mend their relationship. Although things would never be the way they were before, they were in a much better place now. However, an occasional bout of awkwardness still lingered from time to time.

“You look great,” Turner said. “Both of you.”

“Thank you,” Felix said, and Tamora nodded in agreement. “You look dapper, as always.”

“The bowtie’s a nice touch,” Tamora added.

“Thanks,” he replied, a genuine smile working its way across his features. “I’ll let you guys get on with your night. I’m sure Felix is dying to spin you around on the dance floor until you can’t see straight.”

“It’s nothing he hasn’t done before,” Tamora replied with a smile.

* * *

On the other side of the room, Ralph stood against the wall with Kohut, watching their friends dance the night away.

“They really are cute together, aren’t they?” Kohut asked.

“Yeah, they are,” Ralph replied. “It’s almost disgusting, honestly.”

A girl Ralph recognized approached the pair, glancing awkwardly between them.

“Hey, Mary,” Ralph said, shocked to see her standing in front of him. “What’s up?”

“Well, I… I was hoping that…” she took a deep breath and fixed Kohut with a determined stare. “I thought maybe your friend here would like to dance with me.”

“Oh,” Kohut replied, quite surprised by this turn of events. He appeared almost bashful as he replied, and Ralph even thought he saw a hint of a blush on the man’s cheeks. “I, uh… I’d like that.”

Ralph shook his head as Mary led Kohut onto the dance floor. Now, instead of just third-wheeling to Felix and Tamora, he was going to be fifth-wheeling with Mary and Kohut added into the mix. He sighed and took a sip of his drink.

“Why you are at party all alone?” a strange voice asked.

Ralph glanced to the side to see a large man standing next to him. This stranger was nearly the same size as he was, but with more defined muscles that showed even through his suit jacket. Ralph thought he recognized him from around campus, but they had never spoken before.

“Well, I’m not  _alone_ , per se, but all my friends sorta–”

“Your friends leave you alone while they have good time,” he cut in. Ralph tried to place his accent–was that Russian? 

“I don’t mind it though, really,” Ralph replied. “It’s nice to see them all so happy.”

“Zangief always see you alone on campus,” he said. Well, at least Ralph had his name now. “No more. You come dance with Zangief.”

“I don’t know, dancing’s not really my thing…” Ralph said, floundering for an excuse. 

He had never even admitted to himself that he had noticed Zangief many times throughout his time in college, and maybe even had a small crush on the burly man. Ralph was not the kind of person to go out of his way to seek out romance, being that he was much happier on his own. Or, at least, he _thought_  he was happier on his own. He had never actually been in a relationship before, so he really couldn’t know for sure. After mulling it over for a moment, he decided to give in.

“Ah, what the hell,” he conceded. “Lead the way, Zangief.”

* * *

Felix and Tamora were inseparable throughout the night, and once he had introduced her to everyone, they could scarcely be found anywhere besides the dance floor. Tamora was beginning to feel tired, but she knew how much this meant to Felix. Besides, he was a pretty good dancer, and if she really thought about it, that had been one of the things that had drawn her to him in the first place. 

As the night began to wind down, one last slow song played over the speakers, and Tamora thought she recognized the melody. Felix held her close, swaying them gently to the beat. Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against hers, he began to sing along to the chorus.

 _It won’t ever rain on us_  
It won’t ever get too rough  
You know I can’t promise you that  
But I promise I won’t look back

Tamora finally recognized the song as the same one they had danced to on the roof at the winter formal. Felix felt his heart swell as he opened his eyes and looked up at her, thinking about how far they had come since the last time they had heard this song. 

“These guys must really like Josh Groban,” she commented.

“Actually, I requested it,” Felix admitted. “Sometimes I think back to how perfect that moment felt when we danced to this song up on the roof. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I had been planning to tell you I loved you at the end of that dance. The rain had other plans.”

“I always had a feeling you were holding something back that night,” she said. 

“Well, not anymore,” he replied. “Never again.”

Suddenly, he shifted into a waltz, spinning her around the dance floor. The room was filled with people, but it felt as though it was just the two of them up on the roof again, sharing an intimate moment. Looking into his eyes, Tamora could feel how proud and full of love he was. The song drew to a close, and Felix gave her a knowing look before he pulled her down into his arms for a dip. He leaned down to kiss her, a long, deep kiss that he had no desire to end. 

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips as the final lyrics played out.

_Won’t look, won’t look, won’t look back_

_Won’t look, won’t look, **won’t look back**_


End file.
